By Moonlight and Sunrises
by Celesti Rivers
Summary: There was no awkwardness. No need to fill the empty space with words because the space wasn't empty. There was something - inaudible, invisible, of course, but there was something there anyways. "How can I possibly want to kiss a woman whose name I don't even know?" Percy finally asked, breaking the silence.
1. Moonlight

**Author's Note: So you could say this is awkward (at least for those that have read Stronghold). My justification is that headcanons are headcanons and every plot bunny should be explored so ENJOY.**

 **This will be a ten-part story (ie - ten chapters). For information on the characters and their families, as well as cool graphics, there is a link on my profile to a tumblr page. For those too lazy to go there (I feel you), the URL is bymoonlightandsunrises!**

* * *

 _Chapter 1 - Moonlight_

 _2 May 1999_

* * *

After the war, life had been constantly in flux for Percy Weasley. It still was like that, if he was being perfectly honest with himself, but perhaps he had grown accustomed to it after the tumultuous year they had all had. A year of sorrow and regret, a year of piecing his life back together - both his family and career life, that is - and a year of turning corners and not knowing what to expect. Good news? Bad news? Bodies? Prisoners? Percy had seen it all by now.

In the midst of it all, Percy's social life had been the first to suffer. His family was priority number one after the war, and he would do everything to ensure that it remained as such, then came his career, and then... the day would already be over and Percy would be exhausted out of his mind. He didn't mourn his social life much, anyways. After Fred's death, it had been difficult for Percy to reach out to other people. It was much easier to stay close with family and distract himself with work endeavours whenever that didn't work.

Now, a year had passed and Percy felt as if he should feel a bit different. He didn't, though, and wondered if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

Different or not, Percy knew better than anyone that when the Minister of Magic invited you to a gala to celebrate the war's heroes, you didn't say no and slam the door in his face. That was how Percy found himself standing in Kingsley Shacklebolt's rather impressive home, clad in dress robes, holding a flute of champagne in his hand and making cordial conversation with other Ministry workers.

Before the final battle, Percy would not have hesitated to go to any event the Minister had invited him to. It would have been a prime networking opportunity, another small thing that could prove to be a very big thing in the grand scheme of Percy's career. This time around, he felt more cautious - apprehensive, even. Part of the reason for this was fear - Percy was scared he would lapse into that same work-obsessed and uncaring personality. Mostly, though, it was because in the middle of his grief and taking care of his family, Percy had not gone to many outings, let alone fancy galas with some of the biggest names in the Ministry.

He was a rising big name, though, even if he had spent the last year working less. Well on his way to being promoted as the Head of the Floo Network Authority, Percy Weasley was indeed making an impact in the Ministry. This hadn't occurred to him until Kingsley had stepped into his office earlier that week to invite him to the memorial gala, though. He always tried his best to be a humble person, and although this had certainly not been amongst his most notable virtues in the past, it was certainly an important one in the last year.

Feeling the need to get some air and take a break from the small talk, Percy smiled kindly at his current conversation partner - the Head of the Auror Office, Gawain Robards - and said, "It's been lovely discussing with you, Auror Robards. Perhaps you can owl me some of those ideas of yours about how we can implement the Floo Network into the Auror training programme."

"Indeed I will, Weasley!" he exclaimed happily. "And please, do call me Gawain."

"Of course, then I must insist you call me Percy," the redhead replied. "Now, if you wouldn't mind, I think I'd like to go get a refill of this wonderful champagne and some fresh air."

"Of course, Percy," Gawain said with a nod, and then went on his way to strike up a conversation with Kingsley.

As Gawain Robards went over to Kingsley Shacklebolt, the Minister briefly locked eyes with Percy. He seemed to know, in just that split second gaze, what Percy was feeling.

Percy enjoyed socializing and networking. It was one of his strengths. But after the war, he always talked to people with an inward cringe. It was fear of having Fred brought up, fear of saying the wrong things, fear of people mentioning his past... Merlin, Percy was so bloody scared for a Gryffindor. But the war and especially duelling at the Battle of Hogwarts had been a jarring wake-up call to be more observant of the people around him. He hadn't particularly changed as a person, just the way he viewed the world... and the people inside it.

Percy knew it was silly to be so cautious and scared of unpleasant conversation, and going to this memorial gala was one way to move past that. But this wasn't some overnight development, after all.

Refilling his champagne flute, Percy headed out onto the spacious balcony through the glass double doors that were propped open to let in the spring breeze. It was a half moon that night, and Kingsley's impressive home in Northumberland had a clear sky that boasted a large collection of stars. Definitely more than Percy ever saw from his flat in London, anyways.

His gaze was torn from the night sky by a figure in his peripheral vision. Percy turned his head and realized that he was not alone on the balcony. It was a woman, dressed in a burgundy gown that left her back bare and covered her arms in lace. Her right forearm was leaning on the stone ledge of the balcony and her left arm was hanging by her side with a tumbler of whiskey as she gazed out into the gardens behind Kingsley's home. She had darker skin and nearly black hair that tumbled down her back in graceful waves.

When the woman turned her head, Percy noticed that her eyes were a soft, welcoming brown and that... she looked familiar. He couldn't place it though, and that quite bothered him.

Deciding against turning around and heading back inside - mostly because one person was much easier to deal with than fifty - Percy approached the balcony ledge and stood beside the woman. He leaned his elbows on the cold stone as he examined the intricate gardens and took a sip of his champagne. After a few seconds of this, he gave the woman a sidelong glance and startlingly realized that the woman was intently watching him. Her gaze didn't even falter when Percy looked up and blinked in surprise.

After a long moment of silence, the mysterious woman finally spoke.

"I'm not a fan of crowded rooms, either," she stated simply. "It's not claustrophobia, I just can't handle that many people all at once."

Percy took a moment to gather himself and finally reply with, "I agree. I'm not sure how some people can thrive in that kind of environment."

The woman smirked lightly. It seemed to fit her features so well. "I figured you'd be the social kind, Percy Weasley," she said, somewhat challengingly.

"With that many people, it's more like triage than socializing."

She laughed at that, and Percy couldn't help but think that her laugh sounded a lot like a beautiful song. It was echoing and graceful. It sounded controlled, too, as if the woman didn't want to give him too much credit and laugh excessively.

"You know my name," Percy started after a short moment of silence, "but I don't know yours. And I'm quite sure I've met you before."

"I don't believe in coincidences," the woman replied. "If you don't remember my name, it's for a reason."

"So we have met."

At that statement, the woman merely shrugged, that same mischievous smirk gracing her features once more.

"You're not going to make me guess, are you?" Percy asked jokingly.

"No, not at all," the woman answered. "What's in a name, anyways? Wouldn't you rather get to know me without the bias of a name? Like I said, everything happens for a reason. Maybe someone out there wants to give us a fresh start."

"Give _me_ a fresh start," Percy corrected. "You know my name," he added as a reminder.

The woman shrugged. "Maybe you're the one that needs to work on your judgements, then."

Percy wasn't sure what it was about her, but the woman in front of him was refreshing. It wasn't anything about her beauty, although he would have to be blind to call her otherwise. It was the way she stated things. She was blunt and honest... observant and thoughtful. She seemed like a person that thought about each action she took and what benefits and detriments came along with that.

"Perhaps," Percy finally stated in agreement, a small smile returning her proud smirk.

There was another lull of silence as the woman took a sip of her whiskey, not betraying a single wince at the taste of the alcohol. He watched as she slowly sipped the alcohol, her sights set on the starry night sky even as she set the tumbler down on the stone ledge. Percy noticed how even when her lips were set taut, her eyes seemed to be smiling.

"'Do not go gentle into that good night,'" the woman finally said, not diverting her gaze from the moonlight.

Percy looked away from her suddenly, blushing at the thought of being caught staring - it was rather improper and unprofessional of him. But as he recognized the words, he slowly turned his gaze back to her regal features.

"'Old age should burn and rage at close of day,'" Percy recited with a smile on his face, feeling both amused and impressed. "'Rage, rage against the dying of the light.'"

The woman turned to meet his gaze with an equally impressed look on her face as she continued, "'Though wise men at their end know dark is right, because their words had forked no lightning - '"

"'They do not go gentle into that good night,'" the pair finished together.

The woman chuckled quietly, modestly, and Percy did the same. They both looked down at their feet for a moment before meeting eyes once more.

"Not many wizards are so well-read in muggle poetry," the woman observed. Her smirk was gone. Now, she held a small smile on her full lips.

"Neither are many witches," Percy countered, returning her smile.

"That's true," the woman agreed. "We are a rare kind, aren't we, Percy Weasley?"

He nodded and let silence fall between them again, neither of them breaking the eye contact. Like every silent moment before that one, it felt necessary, comfortable. There was no awkwardness. No need to fill the empty space with words because the space wasn't empty. There was something - inaudible, invisible, of course, but there was something there anyways.

"How can I possibly want to kiss a woman whose name I don't even know?" Percy finally asked, breaking the silence.

The woman didn't seem phased or taken aback. She merely shrugged. "What's in a name? Would you want to kiss me any less or any more if you knew my name?" she challenged.

"I don't think so," Percy answered thoughtfully.

"Then you've answered your own question."

Percy was amazed by this woman. It wasn't that she was intelligent - although he could tell she was. No, this wasn't intelligence that she was exhibiting. It was consciousness. Awareness. She thought about things and saw the world in a way that no one else saw. She was fearless in that sense. And Percy admired it.

Not saying anything else, Percy set his champagne flute on the stone ledge and gently cupped the side of the woman's face with his right hand. Her skin was soft, he noticed, and her mesmerizing brown eyes didn't move away from his blue ones for a single second. He leaned towards her just as she gently raised herself on the tips of her toes to meet their lips as their eyelids fluttered shut. It was a soft kiss, modest but lingering. Their lips joined a second time, a third time, a fourth... and then they both opened their eyes and blue met brown once more.

"You can't keep your name from me forever," Percy stated quietly.

"Forever?" the woman questioned. "Interesting choice of word."

Percy could feel his face heating up at that but tried to keep his visual reaction to a minimum. This woman was far too observant, after all. He took a step back, hand leaving her face, and nodded once.

"It was lovely meeting you," Percy said cordially. "Or meeting you a second time, I think."

"It was lovely to see you again, Percy Weasley," the woman said in return. "You are full of surprises."

With that, the woman grabbed her tumbler of whiskey from the stone ledge of the balcony and headed back to the gala. Percy watched as her hips swayed away from him and she raised her arm to down the rest of her drink. She was lost in the crowd in a matter of seconds, and Percy looked back at the moonlit sky.

Perhaps everything did happen for a reason. Only time would tell, though.

* * *

 **Whaaat? Mystery woman? Who could she possible be? ;)**

 **Reviews are much appreciated, I love any opportunity to improve my writing and another person's perspective helps with that! Thank you for reading, stay tuned for the next chapter :)**


	2. Paterfamilias

_Chapter 2 - Paterfamilias_

 _23 August 1999_

* * *

Throughout his entire life, there had always been one person that Percy knew he could count on: his father.

Arthur Weasley was, simply put, the cornerstone of the family. He had always been there for everyone, and Percy had always been able to count on his father for support. Whether or not Arthur knew it, Percy had always looked up to him... even when he wasn't around to say so. That time of his life was more diifficult than anyone could have imagined, but at least now, a year after the end of the war, he could make up for lost time.

Percy wasn't quite sure how his father did it - staying so positive and supportive for everyone after everything they had been through - but he did know one thing with absolute certainty: if Percy got the chance to be a father, he hoped he would be just like his own father.

Today, he was seeing his father for advice. It wasn't often that Percy found himself back at the Burrow for breakfast nowadays, but today was special. Today would be his first day in his new position as Head of the Floo Network Authority, and the importance of that was starting to make itself very evident to Percy. He had been a bit dismissive - too much so - of the promotion at first, deeming it nowhere near the now seemingly unattainable Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation.

It was an important position, though. Even before the war, he had not advanced enough to be someone else's boss, and that was something that was finally setting in for Percy.

Percy was leaning against a countertop in the kitchen of the Burrow drinking a cup of coffee when his father arrived downstairs. Although seeming a bit surprised at first, Arthur Weasley quickly fixed a wide grin on his face and approached his son with arms spread. Father and son hugged, and a brief moment of silence filled the kitchen.

"It's wonderful to see you, Percy - you look well," Arthur commented brightly, moving to pour himself some coffee as well.

"Thank you. You too," Percy returned, his smile a bit strained.

Arthur picked up on the hesitation in his son's voice almost immediately. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing's wrong," Percy answered. It was true, to some extent. Nothing was wrong, it was just... new. Strange. And he wasn't quite sure what to make of anything at that point.

"Is that so?" Arthur questioned with a disbelieving chuckle.

There was a beat of silence before Percy finally replied. "You think I'm made for this?" he asked quietly.

He wasn't entirely sure what he was asking. Percy had always been ambitious, but a lot of what _needed_ to be done and what he _wanted_ to do got rather mixed up over the last few years. Now, he felt like up was down and left was right. He had put his duty over his personal desires for so long that he wasn't even sure if he was doing the right thing anymore.

"For the Ministry?" his father asked in reply, a bit confused by his son's question.

"No... or yes," Percy answered cryptically. "I'm not even sure, apparently."

"You're scared of repeating history," Arthur stated plainly.

When Percy looked up, his slightly eyes wide in shock at his father's word, he only found a faint smile on the older man's face. That turned Percy's shocked look into a confused frown. He had expected a look of fear or concern on his father's face. As far as the Weasley patriarch knew, the events following Percy's graduation were the result of simple adolescent misguidance.

"I guess so," Percy answered slowly, deciding to go along with his father. He had never had an opportunity to come clean right after the war, what with Fred's death... and after that, it had just seemed as if he had waited too long. He stalled with a sip of his coffee before continuing, "I just feel like if I end up being the same way at my second chance, then I'm really not cut out for it, am I? And if I'm not cut out for this... then what do I do?"

"Percy," his father stared, his tone stern. "You have no idea how proud all of us are of you. Not just me and your mum. _All_ of us. You can't let the past make you feel so uncertain about everything."

"I know, I know," Percy agreed tiredly. "It's just that - "

"It's just nothing," Arthur interrupted calmly. "You have always been incredibly smart and ambitious, Percy. You were born to lead, and that's exactly what you'll do in the Ministry. And I do not believe for a second that you would make the same mistake twice."

"How are you so sure about that?" Percy muttered under his breath as he looked down into the dark depths of his coffee.

"I already said it - you're smart," Arthur answered, a grin spreading across his face. "And smart men learn from their mistakes."

Percy looked up to meet his father's eyes, and the infectious grin spread from father to son. He wanted to just tell him everything then, but even to this day, Percy was scared it would all just sound like one big excuse for how he walked out on them. Setting down the cup of coffee, Percy approached Arthur with his arms spread and enveloped the older man into a tight embrace. Arthur didn't hesitate to hug his son back.

It had been a long year, Percy knew, but he had a feeling that things would be looking up soon.

* * *

Percy's first day in charge had gone... well enough.

It was his first day, after all, and he was his biggest critic. Percy was a perfectionist by trade, which did sound like some made-up rubbish but it couldn't be more true for the professionally dressed Weasley. And when it came to first days - especially a first day at being in charge of a considerable amount of people and a very important aspect of the wizarding world - that bar of perfection would only be set higher.

The work day had come to a close, though, and Percy knew that it didn't matter how he judged his performance. The only judgement that truly mattered was that of his employees, and he would be facing that judgement upon exiting his office to go home for the day.

What he was about to do felt like a lot heftier than just clocking out for the day.

When Percy opened the door of his new office, he had expected to be faced with silence. The first thing he was faced with, however, was a cheery grin from his secretary.

"Evening, Mister Weasley," the young man greeted kindly. "Off for the day?"

"Yes, I've finished everything I needed to get done today," Percy replied. "You should make your way home soon as well. Mondays are already inherently longer than the other work days."

"Duly noted," the secretary said with a chuckle.

On his way out of the main office for the Floo Network Authority, Percy was faced with all sorts of other greetings and kind goodbyes. No one seemed to be affronted by his presence, and no one had gone out of their way to avoid him on his way out.

It wasn't that Percy was expecting a negative reaction from any of his new employees. He had made sure to be as competent and accommodating as possible in his new position; however, he knew that if he were to be lapsing into old habits, that would show in the way that his employees acted around him. Percy was an observant person, and whenever he looked back on his past work for the Ministry, he just knew that he had been horribly blinded.

* * *

"Audrey, honestly, is that any way to dress?" Her father's irritated tone did not go unnoticed

"Well, you see, I'm not quite done yet, Father," Audrey shot back smartly.

Audrey was currently pouring herself a very large mug of coffee, standing in the spacious kitchen of her parents' home - her childhood home - barefoot and in her work trousers, a sports bra, and her black long-sleeve shirt hanging around her neck, not quite having gotten around to sticking her arms through the other two openings in the piece of clothing. Her pitch black hair was its usual curly, frizzy mess, as she hadn't gotten a chance to magically straighten it and pull it back in a tight ponytail. Audrey would blame he father for the untameable hair and could only dream of having her mother's smooth waves.

"I didn't know I raised my daughter to talk back like that," Kristopher Shacklebolt commented dryly as he took the carafe of coffee from his daughter to pour himself a mug of coffee as well.

"Hey, if you want to have me over for Sunday dinner, you have to deal with me on a Monday morning," Audrey replied with a smirk. "Twenty-one years of me should've taught you that much."

She then made her way to the breakfast room, all the while trying to get one arm through the rest of her shirt and drink her coffee at the same time. Needless to say, it was not the most graceful or well-coordinated of endeavours. It didn't take long for the mug to slip out of Audrey's fingers and her heart to plummet at the thought of spilling her morning coffee. She hadn't had nearly enough of it to be able to deal with that kind of tragedy.

Fortunately, someone was around to mutter a quick, " _Arresto Momentum_ ," and stop the mug just a few inches shy of the floor. Audrey let out a sigh of relief and reached down to grab her mug, but the momentary gratefulness quickly faded as she knew exactly who had been around to stop the mug from hitting the floor. She turned to her older brother with a raised eyebrow and a questioning look.

"What? No, 'thanks Keegan?'" he teased with a smirk.

"Practicing your wandless magic again, I see," Audrey commented as she nodded towards his extended hand.

Keegan let the arm fall to his side with a shrug. "Getting good, aren't I?" he asked with a wink.

Audrey only rolled her eyes as she took a seat at the breakfast table. Keegan was the stereotypical older brother. He was a golden boy, setting the bar so damn high that Audrey could have never reached it in a million years. He had been Prefect, Head Boy, Quidditch captain, and had received several offers from several Quidditch teams that had wanted a Beater like him. In the end, Keegan had taken the law enforcement route and ended up working as an Obliviator - as if being good at sports wasn't enough.

It never really bothered Audrey, though. There would obviously always be competition between the two of them, but that was what made both of them successful in their own rights. And when Keegan wasn't being extremely cocky and overconfident, Audrey quite liked to look up to him as a role model. They also did tend to get along quite well, since the age gap between them was only three years.

As Audrey was sitting down at the table, her eyes took in the already prepared meal in front of her. Fried eggs, sausages, toast, and a bowl of yogurt with fruit. She looked up with a raised eyebrow and a glare just as her father sat down at the head of the table next to her.

"You still have Leila," she stated plainly, disappointment clear in her tone.

"Let's not start with this again," Kristopher said tiredly. "She's a house elf, Audrey. They'll throw a right tantrum if you try to fire them. It's not like we treat her poorly - she has her own room and no one in this family has ever laid a hand on her."

 _No one except for Aunt Kelsey, probably_ , Audrey thought bitterly. "You're right, I'm tired of this argument," Audrey replied, although she didn't put much heart into the words as she didn't quite mean them. Her father clearly noticed this, but chose to move past it. They both knew how to pick their battles.

Keegan slid into the seat across from her and added, "She's a softie, Dad. Can't help it," he teased.

Audrey only rolled her eyes as she started eating her breakfast. Today was not a morning for arguments. Monday mornings rarely were, as she didn't quite have the energy for that kind of interaction. She had to reserve some of it for Auror training, after all.

"It's been nice having both of you around for the weekend to catch up," Kristopher commented after a long pause. "But I'm sure you've both figured out by now that I invited you over to discuss some important matters, as well."

"Of course," Audrey muttered, not moving her eyes from the breakfast in front of her.

Her father chose to ignore her sarcasm and continued. "We must tread carefully now. The Shacklebolt family has a very good reputation right now, thanks to your Uncle Kingsley," he said. "The last thing we want is someone putting the family in a bad light. There are, unfortunately, a lot of things that could be used against us."

"I think you meant 'thanks to Uncle Kingsley, Keegan, and Audrey,'" Audrey snapped, looking up at her father with a glare. "Keegan and I were also in the Order, in case you forgot."

"Audrey..." Kristopher started tiredly.

"You know what he means, Audrey," Keegan supplied, the look on his face warning her to pipe down.

"Oh, I do, and we wouldn't have to worry about any of this if it wasn't for Aunt Kelsey and her Death Eater friends deciding it was a good idea to scare Mum and Dad into turning a blind eye," Audrey retorted angrily as she faced Keegan. "And if you had done something about it," she added as she turned to look at her father again.

"I've said it many times before and I'll say it again," Kristopher started in a threateningly calm tone. "I would kill anyone for you two and your mother. Stepping out of the way of a few Death Eaters was a small price to pay for your lives."

Audrey set her sights on her breakfast plate once more, refusing to delve into that conversation. She still remembered the day that her Aunt Kelsey and her troupe of Death Eaters had broken into the manor. That was a night for a family dinner - the four of them laughing over elderflower wine and cheese - and the cloaked murderers had simply walked in like they owned the place and dragged her father into the study. Twenty minutes later, they had left. Her father had refused to take the Dark Mark - Audrey had never known him to support pureblood supremacy and she knew that he would only take that horrid tattoo over his dead body - but he had promised to not get in Voldemort's way so Audrey, Keegan, and Zhara, his wife, wouldn't be targeted.

Of course, Audrey understood the decision. She didn't have children, after all, so it wasn't right for her to judge her father's decisions when it came to protecting the family. But she didn't want to just sit around and let someone control them like that. And neither did Keegan. The next day, they had both left their posts at the Minsitry and joined the Order.

Her father had stayed at the Ministry, quite obviously, in his position as the Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, and so had her mother, in her position as an Unspeakable. But Audrey and Keegan spent the majority of 1997 and 1998 in hiding, doing work for the Order of the Phoenix. She didn't regret a moment of it, and quite enjoyed working alongside her Uncle Kingsley; however, she did wish her father and mother could have been there, too.

"None of us can change the past," Kristopher started with a forced calmness. "All we can do is focus on the future and make sure no one tries to drag our name in the mud because of Kelsey. Some people are already whispering that it's strange to have a Shacklebolt Minister and a Shacklebolt Department Head."

"You've had that position for the last four years!" Audrey exclaimed. "None of us have done anything wrong, so that means we have nothing to worry about."

"Don't be immature, Audrey," Keegan snapped. "You know better than anyone that people are vultures for blackmail."

She did know it, but she would've liked it much more if it weren't true.

"Men... Audrey," a voice echoed through the breakfast room. "What kind of breakfast talk is that?"

In a matter of seconds, Zhara Shacklebolt was standing by her husband's side with her forearm resting along the back of his chair. Her dark hair was let loose, flowing down to her shoulders in smooth waves and she was wearing a freshly pressed business suit. She was a Shafiq by birth, and that Arabic heritage shone through her accent.

" _Abnayiy al'aeizza_ ," Zhara started in a calm tone, "you both know very well that every decision that your father makes is with the intent to keep you two safe. And he is very proud of the way you two took a stand and joined the Order. Isn't that right, Kris?"

There was a silent beat before Kristopher replied, "Of course," with a stoic look on his face.

Zhara turned her warm smile to Audrey and Keegan. "This last year has been difficult for us, and things will continue to be difficult," she continued, "but we will surely come out unscathed if we stick together. We are a family, and a family falls apart once unity is lost. I think that is the only valuable lesson that you two could possibly learn from your Aunt Kelsey."

The room was filled with silence after that. Audrey could always remember her mother having an impeccable knack for knowing just what to say and when to say it. Perhaps it was a result of growing up in a strict pureblood home, or maybe she just happened to be effortlessly intelligent. Audrey could never be as close with her mother as other daughters were, though, due to the secretive nature of her job. It wasn't something that could be risked, anyways.

"Am I understood?" Zhara added in a colder tone, her smile gone and an eyebrow raised in a demanding manner.

"Yes, Mother," Audrey and Keegan chorused tiredly.

* * *

Training had been gruelling today, but well worth it, in Audrey's opinion.

Auror training was everything she had always hoped it would be. Competitive. Fast-paced. Challenging. It pushed Audrey to be better than she was the day before. It forced her to buy as many books as possible and study all of the newest and oldest techniques in any subject relevant to her training. She had wanted to be an Auror for so long that, at this point, Audrey didn't just want to pass her training - she wanted to excel.

Excelling meant that she had to recognize when there was room for improvement. Today had been such a day. Combat without magic was always something with which Audrey had struggled. She had grown up in a magical pureblood family, after all, and rarely had any need to learn how to fight with her hands. She was strong, of course, from her years of playing Quidditch, but she didn't quite have the skill set to hold her own in a fist fight. And if it came down to the Muggle world - where secrecy was key - that would be an exceptionally important skill set to have.

Audrey closed and locked her assigned locker as she let out a tired breath. One day down, four to go. Auror training was about taking it one week at a time. It was too intensive to look at the big picture straight away.

"Already tired, Shacklebolt?" a voice teased.

Audrey looked up to see a fellow Auror-in-training and a smirk quickly settled on her face. "Watch your back, Davies," she warned. "I can still kick your arse in a pick-up game of Quidditch."

"Doubtful," Davies argued jokingly.

Audrey shrugged and swung her backpack over her shoulder. "You can't hide from the truth, love," she said, sarcasm evident in her tone.

After that, Audrey left the locker room with a light laugh. The competition was fierce in the Auror training programme, but she got along fairly well with all of her colleagues. Some gave her unnecessarily weird stares when they discovered that she was a Slytherin, but those quickly disappeared if they took the time to get to know her.

Upon exiting the locker room, however, Audrey's smile dropped a bit. Standing outside, obviously waiting for her, was her older brother. "This can't be good," Audrey stated upon seeing him.

"What? Can't I come say hello to my little sister?" Keegan argued as he swung an arm over Audrey's shoulder and the two started walking.

"Hello," Audrey said slowly. "Now what do you want?"

"I'm not sure if you just know me very well or simply question my every motive," Keegan said with feigned hurt in his voice.

Audrey simply rolled her eyes and grumbled, "Just spit it out. Doubt I can do anything to get out of whatever you're going to drop on me."

"Take over babysitting Oralee tomorrow?" Keegan questioned, although it was obviously meant as a command.

Oralee was their four year-old sweetheart of a cousin, and since she had been given the day off tomorrow for getting ahead on some assignments... well, Audrey supposed it couldn't hurt to spend some time with family. "All right," she agreed with a begrudging tone.

"Ah, I knew I could count on you, sis," Keegan stated blissfully.

* * *

 **And here we get to learn a bit more about Audrey and her family! Let me know what you thought of this rendition of the famous faceless woman in a review. Thank you for reading, lovely people!**

 **Please feel free to go to the tumblr account for this story (url: bymoonlightandsunrises) for graphics and more information on the characters :)**

 **Translation:**

 _ **Abnayiy al'aeizza (Arabic) - My dear children**_


	3. Audacious

_Chapter 3 - Audacious_

 _24 August 1999_

* * *

Percy had grown to sincerely appreciate noise over the last year. Children running around screaming and almost breaking things, small talk over small talk over small talk... a younger him would have called that a living hell. There was simply no productivity within chaos - especially chaotic noise. However, Percy had experienced no truer silence than the Burrow the morning after Fred's death. Since then, he expressed a unique appreciation for chaotic noise. He thought that George had, too, which was probably what prompted his younger brother to re-open Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes.

That was where Percy now found himself, taking in the commotion as something of a blessing. He had made it a habit to visit the joke shop during his work breaks as, over the last year, he had grown much closer to George. Percy had always gotten on quite well with Bill, and Charlie was always easy to talk to - but him and the twins had had had a habit of causing endless frustration for one another. While George hadn't exactly welcomed Percy with open arms right off the bat (more like open hexes, but that was a whole other story), they had found a way to move past it. Now, Percy wouldn't hesitate to say that him and George were the closest out of all of the Weasley siblings.

"Stare out into space any longer and you might just start growing a beard," George commented as he lightly punched Percy's arm.

Percy scoffed but a smile appeared on his lips. "Would still be more facial hair than you'll ever grow," he retorted jokingly.

"Ha ha," George laughed sarcastically. He then handed Percy a box of candies with a variety of unpleasant effects and added, "Why don't you make yourself useful, Big Foot."

Percy shook his head in amusement at that - it was something from a muggle story their dad had told them, although all they had ever gotten from that was that the creature was really hairy. He set off towards an empty shelf and set the cardboard box to levitate in front of him. He truly enjoyed helping George out with the shop when he could - it was usually something relaxing and repetitive like putting things on shelves or cleaning things up. For George, those were "bothersome nothings," so he appreciated the fact that Percy helped out, even if he couldn't understand how his older brother had the attention span for those menial tasks.

After he finished restocking the shelf, Percy folded down the cardboard box to the size of his palm with a wave of his wand and started to head back towards George. However, just as his eyes landed on his younger brother, Percy froze.

* * *

"Ora, I swear to Salazar, if you break something..."

With an exasperated sigh, Audrey placed her hands on her younger cousin's shoulders and knelt down to look the four year-old girl in the eyes. "Now, I know Aunt Astrid doesn't like you hanging around here, so let's make a deal: you be good and keep this between us, and there might just be some ice cream waiting for you at the end of the day."

"Promise!" Oralee said with a big smile on her face. She extended her arm upwards and grabbed hold of Audrey's hand as the two headed into the depths of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes.

Oralee staying at Audrey's flat for the day had gone well for about five minutes. After that, it was almost impossible to do her readings and take care of a bored and hyperactive toddler, so Audrey figured she would have to tire her out. While Oralee looked every bit like Kingsley, she had her mother's upbeat and endless energy. Aunt Astrid was truly a nice woman, but if Audrey spent too much time around her she felt as if she needed a whole day of sleep. Audrey always assumed it had something to do with whatever odd American curriculum was offered at Ilvermorny, the magical school which Astrid had attended.

"Merlin's beard, Audrey Shacklebolt in my very own store - I'm downright honoured."

It took only a split second for Audrey to recognize the voice. With a small sigh and a smirk on her face, Audrey turned to face George Weasley. "Hello, George. Good to see you, too," she greeted.

Her and the twins had been in the same year at Hogwarts, but saying they were friends would have been generous. Proud Gryffindors as they were and the isolated Slytherin she was, the three of them had had fairly stereotypical interactions. "Bloody snakes," "stubborn arses," and other equally lovely pleasantries were commonly exchanged. However, when taking into consideration that Audrey was Kingsley's niece and the fact that the twins worshiped Keegan as some Beater god, the result was something more of an alliance. Audrey would use her prefect perks and access to the Slytherin dungeons to help the twins out, they would have her back whenever she needed it. There was a level of mutual respect between the three of them.

"So who's the little lady?" George inquired.

"You don't recognize her?" Audrey replied. "Oralee, Kingsley's little girl."

"Well, call me bonkers! I wouldn't have guessed."

"You're bonkers," Audrey retorted smartly. "Ora, say hi to George."

"Hi to George," Ora said with a smirk. Audrey simply rolled her eyes as George laughed.

"This one might be a Ravenclaw like her old man," George concluded.

"Well, a lot could change in seven years, she could be the first Gryffindor Shacklebolt," Audrey suggested jokingly.

"Don't get my hopes up like that," George replied with a serious tone.

Audrey laughed once again. It felt good to have a relaxing chat with an old classmate. George was always someone that Audrey had regarded as wearing his heart on his sleeve, and while that seemed to be a downright silly thing to do, she definitely appreciated it in other people. Plus, after working with him in the Order, Audrey had gotten to the point where she felt that she could call George a friend.

"Oy, mate, you see Medusa or something?"

George's exclamation snapped Audrey out of her thoughtful daze and she looked around to see who George was shouting at. When her eyes landed on him, she didn't know if she should smirk or melt into the floor somehow.

* * *

 _Bloody George and his loud mouth..._

With a gulp, Percy approached his younger brother and the woman from the gala. He still didn't know her name, which was bloody embarrassing - but he would have recognized her anywhere. Her slender build made her seem elegant and delicate and her dark wavy hair was up in a ponytail, but her piercing gaze was compelling and almost authoritative. She exuded a peculiar mix of dominance and kindness, and had a sense of mystery around her that pulled him in like a siren would pull in a sailor. Percy thought it was strange how he was still so inexplicably intrigued by the woman.

For about a week after the gala, she had been on Percy's mind almost constantly - but he hadn't seen neither hide nor tail of her so, gradually, she left his thoughts. It was strangely jarring to see her again out of nowhere, but when he looked at her, he could see an image of how she had looked that night in his mind's eye, clear as day.

"I assume you know Audrey Shacklebolt, she was one of your prefects when you had that whole Head Boy phase going on, after all," George introduced.

Percy's eyes widened as he suddenly made the connection and realized who she was. Merlin, how could he have forgotten?

 _The compartment door slammed open just as Percy was about to start talking. He caught a flash of green and silver and resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Percy simply lifted his chin slightly, unrolled the parchment with all of the prefect names, and stiffly asked, "Name?"_

 _"Shacklebolt, Audrey. Fifth year Slytherin."_

 _Percy's eyes flickered upwards at the name. The girl held her chin just as high as he did, if that was even possible, and she was probably the most put-together person in the compartment. Her tie was perfectly straightened out, the pleats in her skirt were sharply ironed, and her sleek black hair was pulled back in a ponytail without a hair out of place. She held his gaze without a even appearing slightly intimidated. In fact, it was Percy that suddenly felt a bit self-conscious._

 _"I would make it a habit of showing up more promptly in the future," Percy commented, albeit with a bit of fear. She had a sense of authority around her that he both admired and hated._

 _"Noted. I was simply playing the messenger," she replied as she stepped towards him and extended her arm to hand him an envelope. "From the Head of the Magical Law Enforcement Patrol, relayed by Dumbledore. There's going to be some security changes this year due to, ah, grievous circumstances."_

 _The first thing Percy noted on the envelope was the sender's name, clear as day in elegant gold ink: "Auror Kristopher Lamar Shacklebolt." Percy looked up at Audrey again as he took the envelope from her and gave her a single nod. "Thank you, Shacklebolt."_

 _Suddenly, a slight smirk appeared on her face as she gave him a small salute and jokingly commented, "Aye aye, captain," before taking her seat next to her counterpart, Adrian Pucey._

 _The action took Percy off guard but he quickly found himself smiling. However, his stoic expression returned as soon as he heard Penny impatiently clear her throat._

Audrey had been possibly the only person that Percy felt he could never boss around. She did whatever she wanted, and he had quickly learned that the best way to get Audrey to do something was to either prove you were right or make a deal. She was ruthless but fair as a prefect, and somehow, even when she would get on his last nerve during a meeting, always knew exactly how to make someone smile. If Percy was being honest, the only reason he didn't remember her was probably because of how Penelope had always disliked the Slytherin and, under the influence of teenage love, Percy just kept Audrey at whatever distance Penelope had wanted.

"Yeah, I'm sure he remembers me," Audrey commented with a smirk on her face, "I'm pretty unforgettable."

"Unforgettable, frustrating, same thing, right?" George teased.

"Watch yourself, Weasley - you're barely scratching the surface," Audrey warned jokingly.

"Noted... hey, Perce, you haven't said something annoying in a while."

Percy blinked as he got pulled out of his daze and cleared his throat. "Uh, yeah, I do remember Audrey," he commented. "You were a good prefect."

Audrey raised an eyebrow. "Is that all?" she inquired. She was enjoying this encounter a lot more than she thought she would, especially when she saw the slight look of panic set in on his face. "I do believe I also kicked your arse that one time in Duelling Club," she finally added.

Percy visibly relaxed and chuckled lightly, "Probably why I was only in the Duelling Club for one school year."

Audrey laughed lightly - the same modest laugh he had heard the first night he met her. Or, well, met her again. The night he had kissed her.

"While I've got you here, a little birdie told me that Keegan declined a Witch Weekly interview," George segued. "Never knew him to shy away from attention, especially of feminine nature."

"Well, fame is a fickle food," Audrey replied with a shrug, quoting one of her favourite muggle poets. She noticed Percy smile slightly as he recognized the quote.

Audrey remembered the day that Keegan had received that stupid pink envelope. She was definitely the less social of the two of them, but whatever made him happy, she supposed. Even as an Obliviator, everyone always knew who Keegan was and all of his wonderful traits. Audrey would always jokingly say they would think otherwise if they had to live with him. Anyways, it had understandably hurt Keegan a bit to decline the offer, but their father's instructions were clear: _lay low_. With Aunt Kelsey still yet to be apprehended, they were being watched like hawks.

"Anyways, Ora and I are gonna get going. It was nice seeing the two of you," Audrey added. She turned her gaze to Percy. "Don't be a stranger, Weasley," she added before turning around to leave the shop, her little cousin in hand.

Percy watched as she left the shop, almost as if mesmerized. The ringing of the shop bell as the door closed behind Audrey snapped him out of his daze and his thoughts organized themselves in an instant. In the briefest moment of clarity, he had devised a plan.

"I'll be right back," Percy muttered as he ran out of the shop without even a glance at George.

Thankfully, as soon as he left the shop, his eyes landed on Audrey's elegant form almost instantly. She was sitting at a table just in front of Fortescue's. Without hesitation, Percy headed towards her. She gave him a peculiar look as soon as she took notice of him.

"Have you ever had Morrocan food?" he asked.

"Uh, no, can't say I have," Audrey replied slowly.

"Good. How does Friday sound?"

"Sounds like 'Friday.'"

Percy shook his head in amusement. "I'll send you an owl. See you Friday, Audrey," he replied.

* * *

 **Hey guys! I'm having fun getting back into this story so I hope you all enjoy it too :) To clarify on Audrey's father's title: he was an Auror and the Head of the Magical Law Enforcement Patrol up until 1995, when he was offered the position of the Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation (to take over from Crouch).**

 **Reviews are much appreciated, can't wait to get the next chapter up!**


	4. Nostalgia

_Chapter 4 - Nostalgia_

 _24 August 1999_

* * *

Seeing Percy again had left Audrey in a distracted trance. The events of that night had been nothing but a hazy memory, but as soon as she recognized those bright blue eyes, she could see it clearer than what she ate for breakfast.

At Hogwarts, and even shortly after graduating, Audrey had not given Percy Weasley much thought. He was the Head Boy, in charge of delegating her shifts and running those tedious weekly meetings. He was Fred and George's older brother, who they incessantly made fun of. He was the "young man" Kingsley always spoke of with a concerned tone. All of that stood in the way of Audrey recognizing his sheer ambition and loyalty... and she remembered the day it was so conveniently pushed out of her view so she could see Percy Weasley for who he truly was.

 _"Here's some files you should read up on," Kingsley started as he set down a very heavy box filled with muggle notebooks on the rickety table, "secret operatives of the Order, their missions, and their code names, should you two ever need to go undercover to provide back-up."_

 _Keegan nodded thoughtfully and grabbed a handful of the notebooks. Audrey paused for a moment and glanced worryingly at her uncle before doing the same. This was it. As soon as she grabbed one of those notebooks, there was no backing out. She delicately turned the pages of the notebooks, taking in the information within the pages... wincing every time she got to one with a searing red stamp that read "DECEASED" boldly dominating the top of the page. For the most part, all of these were the people she had expected to be in the Order. It took a couple hours for Audrey to finally get caught off guard and do a double-take._

 _Audrey paused as her eyes took in the new page before her, a mix of surprise and sudden revelation dawning on her._

 _Code Name: Knight_

 _Real Name: Percival Ignatius Weasley_

 _Blood Status: Pureblood_

 _Mission: Ministry intel, muggle-born protection, double agent_

 _Notes: maximum clearance, mission and post must be maintained at all costs_

 _Almost half the notebook was filled with details and information related to Percy and his mission just in the last_ month _. In a typical Percy Weasley fashion, he left no stone unturned and no details omitted._

 _"Kingsley..." Audrey called, trailing off. "Is this right?" she asked as her uncle entered the tent._

 _He sighed heavily before slowly nodding. "Yes, I was just as shocked when Dumbledore had told me. I don't think anyone's given up more than he has for the Order..."_

After the war, Audrey had expected Percy to be revered as one of the Order's heroes. She had been as behind-the-scenes as it got, and there was no doubt in her mind that if people had found out about everything he did for the Order, it would be front page news. However, months went by and there was nothing. Not a squeak. Logically, it made sense to Audrey. He kept it hidden and focused on what really mattered: his family. Still, he lingered in her thoughts. The file, the encrypted contact she had with him during the war, and that one time she had had to go undercover for him... it was all too much to forget.

It was pure chance that he had been on that balcony that night, and Audrey had most certainly not planned to kiss him... but everything had been perfect. He was captivated, Audrey was intrigued, and they were all alone under a moonlit sky. Perhaps part of it was the "hero goggles," the popularized _Witch Weekly_ term for finding someone more attractive because of their role in the war, but in that moment, Percy was simply a poetic man that couldn't walk away from her. It was truly - as much as Audrey hated to say it - perfect.

Too perfect.

"Good day to my favourite ladies!"

Audrey was snapped out of her deep thoughts by the familiar sound of Keegan's voice as he dropped into the empty seat at the table that Audrey and Oralee had chosen. It was a small French-style patio table, bright turquoise in colour and situated right under the midday sun. Keegan still managed to look completely relaxed in the tiny chair, and he ruffled his little cousin's hair with a joking smile on his face. Turning to Audrey, the older Shacklebolt added, "How'd your day together go?"

"Audrey's going to eat Moroccan food."

The young woman snapped her head towards her little cousin with a glare. _Bloody snitch_ _, can't trust little kids with anything_ , she thought to herself bitterly.

"Moroccan food? That's... oddly specific," Keegan commented.

"A man asked her."

"Ah, there it is."

"Stay out of it, Keegan," Audrey warned as she set her glare onto her older brother.

"Oh yeah, or what?" he challenged.

"Or I tell Mum who _you're_ dating."

Keegan paused and narrowed his eyes at his younger sister for a moment of silence before finally replying, "Go ahead, we both know Gran Lucinda will love her and that's the only opinion that matters. Now, who's Mystery Man?"

Audrey rolled her eyes at Keegan's smugness and simply crossed her arms as she looked away in defiant silence.

"It was Percy Weasley!"

"Oh for Merlin's sake, Kingsley needs to get this one a sibling," Audrey grumbled.

"Oh, such ruthlessness!" Keegan exclaimed as he high-fived Ora. "You'll make a magnificent Slytherin, love."

Audrey fought back a smile at Ora's beaming face. She could never stay too mad at her adorable little cousin. Her brief moment of happiness, however, was quickly interrupted by Keegan's inquiries.

"So, how'd that happen?" he asked with a raised eyebrow and a smirk on his face. He was enjoying this far too much.

"Nothing happened, it's just a bloody dinner," Audrey replied with a roll of her eyes. She knew she was trying too hard to down-play this, but her frustration was getting the better of her. Surprisingly, however, Keegan did not push back.

"Fine, don't tell me," he concluded with a shrug, "but be careful, all right? Remember what Dad said: lay low. A Weasley and a Shacklebolt is not exactly laying low."

Audrey slowly nodded but didn't reply. She had to admit that Keegan made a good point - this was definitely something that would catch a lot of attention, both good and bad. Admitting that out loud, however, was a whole other thing. And in any case, she could handle herself.

* * *

"What did you do?" George asked slowly as Percy entered the joke shop.

After a brief pause, Percy hastily answered, "Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Nothing."

"Noth - ah forget it, I can't do this," George started. "We both know what you did, in any case."

Percy scoffed. "Sure you do," he replied disbelievingly. He was absolutely certain that George had figured it out, but over the years Percy had learned that the best way to deal with the twins was to mess with their heads just as much as they did with his. Besides, the last thing he needed was George to go blabbing to Mum about Percy's love life.

However, the next thing to come out of George's mouth surprised Percy.

"Just be careful, all right?" his younger brother warned. "She may be Kingsley's niece but... she's also a Slytherin and part of a big pureblood family with lots of ties to Death Eaters. Don't be stupid."

Percy narrowed his eyes at George, a sudden wave of defensiveness coming over him. Where did he get off on making those kinds of assumptions about Audrey? Perhaps while they were at Hogwarts, Percy would have thought the same of her, but he knew that was far from the truth. He remembered seeing her name alongside those of other Order members after the war, and he remembered how serene and thoughtful she had seemed that night at the gala. Perhaps George had some more experience with Audrey and had a good reason to say that, but Percy was simply unable to accept that logic in that particular moment.

"Noted. I'll see ya later," Percy replied somewhat bitterly, before bidding goodbye to his brother and making his way back to the Ministry.

George may have just been trying to look out for him, but Percy was capable of making his own decisions. It seemed as if ever since the war had ended and Percy had started to reconcile with his family they were all walking on eggshells around him, like they expected him to just leave again. It was those moments he wished more than ever that he hadn't kept so much from them.

* * *

 _26 August 1999_

* * *

"So, what's new?" Sabina asked as she heavily dropped herself on Audrey's coach.

"Where do I even start..." Audrey muttered tiredly.

Sabina Kopitar was Audrey's closest friend. They had been in the same year at Hogwarts, and a perfect example of how a Slytherin and a Ravenclaw could be completely unstoppable together. The two had been inseparable since their first year. After graduating, they took different paths in the professional world, Sabina choosing to train as a Healer, but their friendship had still remained strong. Then, when the war truly reached its peak, Sabina was right alongside Audrey in the Order, putting her skills as a Healer to use whenever she was needed. The two of them truly had been through thick and thin together.

"Beer?" Audrey offered, raising her own bottle.

Sabina shook her head, her blonde ponytail swinging around. "No thanks, took up a medi-witch shift tonight," she answered. "Dad begged me. New Keeper is a little reckless apparently." She sat up straight and fixed a frown on her face, before adding in a near perfect imitation of her father's Slovenian accent, "'This one is more square than the rest of them, I tell you!'"

"Reckless quidditch player? Why I would have never guessed," Audrey said sarcastically as she sat down next to Sabina.

Sabina laughed and added, "All right, you can only avoid talking about yourself for so long."

"Damn you Ravenclaws," Audrey grumbled, following with a sip of her beer. "So I have a date," she started as she set down her drink.

"Nice, nice, what's he do?" Sabina inquired.

"He, uh, he works for the Ministry," Audrey answered.

"Doing what exactly?" Sabina coaxed, evidently starting to get impatient.

"He's uh... he's the Head of the Floo Network Authority."

Sabina's grey eyes stayed fixed on Audrey and almost pierced through her very soul for a pause, before the blonde woman blinked a few times and slowly stated, "You're going on a date with Percy Weasley."

"Yes, that would be correct."

"Does he know your name this time?"

Audrey rolled her eyes as Sabina cracked up laughing. Audrey had always known telling Sabina about the what had happened at the gala would come back to bite her in the arse somehow, but one could never quite predict anything accurately when it concerned the former Ravenclaw.

"It honestly isn't _that_ shocking that he didn't remember me, all right?" Audrey reasoned. "I mean, Merlin knows Penny was a bit too possessive back in the day."

"Oh hell, don't even remind me. I had to share a house with the girl," Sabina agreed, her laughter dying down just slightly. "Still, you saved the man's life once."

"Well, he doesn't know that. Code names and disguises, remember?" Audrey justified. "Besides, as much as I hate to admit it, Keegan had to save _my_ arse that day, and you did too."

Sabina sighed and nodded, a grim look appearing on her face as she recalled the mission. She quickly forced a smile on her pale face before changing the subject. "Anyways, as much as I like to tease, I am happy for you. Getting out there and having an actual date instead of a regretful one-night stand."

"Bloody hell, it happened once," Audrey grumbled as she rolled her eyes, then grimacing slightly as she recalled her brief, drunken reunion with her ex all those months back.

"Okay, seriously now, he seems like a nice bloke," Sabina admitted. "A little full of himself, but hey - birds of a feather."

"You just can't stop, can you?"

"Nope!" Sabina agreed cheerily as she jumped up from the coach. "Anyways, I gotta get going now. Thanks for the update, love."

Audrey waved goodbye to her friend with a small smile on her face and a shake of her head. Hearing some positivity from Sabina did lighten her mood a bit and take her mind off of Keegan's warning, but it brought other troubling thoughts to her mind. Audrey hadn't thought about one of her missions in ages, but that mission in particular always sent shivers up her spine and triggered a sharp pain throughout the scar that ran along the length of her left leg. Some parts of the war were truly inescapable.

* * *

Percy always enjoyed family dinners now. There was nothing he had missed more after he had left home, and now he tried to attend as many as possible and truly make the best of them. He knew, deep down, that he could never actually make up for that lost time - but at least he could try. Weasley family dinners after the war were always a chance to leave your worries at the door for a few hours. Despite his small spat with George the other day, they still hugged and smiled and chatted throughout the dinner like it hadn't happened. Family dinners were now a sacred event for the Weasleys.

One of the clocks in the living room chimed one o'clock and Percy lifted his head to look out the window at the night sky. The tea in front of him had gone cold yet again, so Percy swished his wand to warm it up... again. Even though the family dinner had been a nice distraction, afterwards his head was still plagued by George's words the other day. With his mind racing, he could barely stand staying in his childhood bedroom, so he headed downstairs to the kitchen to brew himself a cup of tea and try to calm his nerves.

So far, no luck.

"Ah, can't sleep?"

Percy's head snapped towards the direction of the voice but visibly relaxed when he realized it was Arthur. He shrugged lightly and replied, "Just a lot on my mind."

"Anything you want to talk about?" Arthur offered as he walked over to the kitchen table and sat across from Percy.

Percy stayed silent for a long moment, considering how he could talk about what was on his mind without giving his father too much information. He didn't want anyone else knowing about him and Audrey - especially not when there was so many questions racing through his head. He felt inexplicably attracted to her, but there was so much he really didn't know about her. Everything he was feeling defied logic.

"Do you think your Hogwarts house matters as much as people say it does?" Percy finally asked.

A slight look of confusion dawned on his father's face. "What do you mean?" he asked in reply.

"Just, you know... all Gryffindors are brave, all Ravenclaws are smart..." Percy added in explanation, "all Slytherins are cruel."

"Ah, I see," Arthur voiced with a knowing look on his face. "No, I really don't think that. Pride is one thing, but it would be pretty insane to think that every witch and wizard truly and wholly belonged in one of four categories."

"That's not the popular belief though," Percy countered. "Especially not nowadays."

"No, it's not, and it is very easy to get caught up in that," Arthur admitted. "Happens to me sometimes, but then I remember one simple fact."

"Yeah, and what's that?" Percy asked, partly out of curiously, partly because he hoped it was something that would help his case a little.

Arthur's smile widened. "Your Nana was a Slytherin, and I know she was only alive for a few years after you were born but she was damn near the kindest woman you'd ever meet," he said with a longing tone to his voice.

How could Percy forget about Nana? Cedrella Weasley had been a household name among both blood purists and so-called "blood traitors" for quite some time after she had been disowned by the Black family. She had just fit in so well with the Weasleys, though, that no one ever questioned her ties to the Black family, let alone the fact that she had been a Slytherin some decades ago. He supposed it made sense from the vague memories Percy did have of her. She was always carefully watching and analyzing, and he had a very distinct memory of somehow convincing Bill to clear the garden gnomes completely on his own one day.

"What's got you thinking about this?" Arthur asked curiously.

"Just um, a lot happening at the Ministry," Percy replied vaguely. "There's lots of innocent people with ties to Death Eaters and it's a recipe for cruel gossip."

"Like Kingsley," Arthur said with a sigh.

A bit of panic filled Percy as Arthur got dangerously close to his real concern, but he decided it would be safer to just play along with it. "Right, it truly can't be easy for him, especially as Minister," Percy contributed.

"It's not... and on top of what they did to his father and parents-in-law during the war, it's a shock anyone questions his loyalty," Arthur continued, "but unhappy people always need to find someone to blame. All you can do is try to show some empathy."

Percy nodded, deep in thought. He remembered the day that Arthur was talking about all too clearly, but it was his father's advice that Percy focused on in that moment. He had been so busy being offended by George's forwardness that he hadn't considered the storm of emotions George hid from all of them on a daily basis. He should have been more understanding of his little brother's concern.

"Thanks, Dad," Percy replied quietly with a small smile.

* * *

 **Lots of new mysteries introduced in this chapter, but you'll have to wait to find out more! Till next chapter :)**


	5. Inheritance

_Chapter 5 - Inheritance_

 _27 August 1999_

* * *

Audrey coughed lightly as she kicked up some more dust in the dark basement of the Shacklebolt Estate. She vaguely remembered stuffing a box full of dresses her grandmother had given her down there, but could not remember how any of the dresses looked like, so that ruled out a simple _accio_ incantation. In all honesty, Audrey had never expected to actually _want_ to wear those dresses. She wasn't the "dress" type and it wasn't exactly recommended wear for Auror training. Lo and behold, Audrey had forgotten to consider the fact that she might actually go on a nice date at some point.

"Audrey?" she heard her mother's voice call.

"Down here, Mum!" Audrey shouted in reply. In a matter of seconds, Zhara was making her way down the creaking stairs entering the basement. She was still in her plain black Ministry robes with the Department of Mysteries logo embroidered on both shoulders in silver thread, so Audrey figured she had just gotten home from work.

"What on earth are you looking for down here?" Zhara questioned with a hint of amusement in her voice.

"That box of rubbish dresses Gran gave me," Audrey replied as she continued to scan the dim room.

"If they're so rubbish, why are you looking for them?" her mum questioned with a raised eyebrow and a smirk on her face.

Audrey paused for a moment and narrowed her eyes at her mum before finally replying, "All dresses are rubbish, just so happens that some occasions call for them."

"Ah," Zhara voiced a bit sarcastically. She took a couple strides to get to where Audrey was standing, then pointed her wand above her daughter's head to levitate a box with the word _DRESSES_ scrawled in messy block writing. Audrey's messy block writing.

Audrey crouched down to open the box and pulled out a sleeveless navy blue summer dress with a bare back and a halter top neckline. She held it up for her mum to say and asked, "Good?"

"It has my approval," Zhara replied. "And I'm sure it'll get anyone else's approval too," she added with a knowing glint in her eye.

Audrey simply nodded and started to make her way out of the basement, her mum walking alongside her. From behind, the two women may as well have been sisters - Audrey had easily adopted the slightly curvy shape and perfect posture from the Shafiq side of the family. Other than that, however, Audrey was the spitting image of her father - pitch black hair, umber brown skin, chocolate brown eyes, and a slightly upturned nose - just like Keegan. Next to Zhara's tawny beige skin, as if she was constantly just a bit sun-kissed, pale green eyes, and chestnut brown hair, Audrey may have well been the night to her day.

Just as Audrey was about to head for the stairs, she noticed that her mother had stopped in front of a bookshelf and was holding a tattered photo album in her arms with a rare soft smile on her face. Audrey approached her mum, curious to see what had gotten her typically stoic mum in such a trance. As Audrey peeked over her shoulder, she recognized a young Zhara - Audrey guessed around twelve or thirteen years old - in a photo standing next to three other children, two visibly younger and one that looked to be close in age with Zhara.

"This was when we visited my grandfather in Qatar," Zhara said quietly. "The taller boy is my older brother, Basir, and the younger two are the twins, Fouad and Aaliyah."

Audrey had met Fouad - he was actually very kind and his wife, Dana, even more so - but had never met Basir or Aaliyah. Her mother had very rarely spoken of them, on account of their decision to become Death Eaters immediately after they had graduated from Hogwarts. Zhara let out a heavy, shaky sigh then flipped the page and said, "Here's some happier memories - your father and I on our first date."

Audrey couldn't fight the smile on her face as she took in the photo. A young Kristopher Shacklebolt stood tall - nearly a whole foot taller than Zhara - and had a somewhat proud smirk on his face as he handed Zhara a bouquet of peonies. Her mother, looking just as elegant at seventeen as she did at forty, gracefully took the bouquet and warmly smiled at Kristopher.

"This was just near the tail end of seventh year. Said he didn't want to break the professional boundaries between Head Girl and Head Boy too soon, but we both knew he was just intimidated," Zhara said jokingly. "We snuck into the astronomy tower for a picnic under the stars."

"Oh is that all," Audrey muttered with a joking grimace.

Zhara laughed as she tucked the album under her arm and started to head upstairs, deciding not to reply, which made Audrey's grimace a little less joking. "That ruins all of Astronomy for me," she muttered to herself as she quickly followed behind her mum.

"Well, I may have married my Hogwarts sweetheart, but if there's one thing I've learned from my dating experiences, it's to trust your gut," Zhara advised once Audrey had caught up with her. "There's no handbook to picking the perfect man - you just know."

"What makes you think I need dating advice?" Audrey questioned. Her mom gave her a pointed look and Audrey sighed, "Yeah, all right, you got me."

"I had to magically restrain you when you were a kid to get you in a dress," Zhara started, "and now you go looking for them in the basement. A mother just knows."

Audrey laughed at her mother's apparent exasperation. "Well, even I know when to dress to impress," she said. "Thanks for the advice, Mum."

"Anything for you, Audrey," Zhara replied. She took a step closer to Audrey and gently cupped her daughter's face. "You deserve someone that can fully appreciate how amazing you are. Never forget that."

* * *

"How'd you get your whole abdomen bruised up again?" Percy asked Oliver, his eyes briefly flitting to Oliver's cast before looking back in the mirror to make sure the spell tying his necktie was working properly.

"Saved the Quaffle and got destroyed by a Bludger right after," Oliver explained, "but hey - we won!"

"Right, yeah," Percy replied hurriedly before giving up on the current tie and going to search for another.

"Also the Medi-witch was _smoking_ ," Oliver added.

Percy re-surfaced from his increasingly messy closet and held up a tie until Oliver nodded in approval. "In that case, I'm assuming you celebrated in a typical Oliver Wood fashion," he replied.

"I was about to but, uh, she's Coach's daughter," Oliver replied meekly.

Percy let out a single laugh and said, "Well, there's your good luck with women running out," he joked, finally satisfied with his outfit.

Never in a million years had Percy been so critical of his outfit for a _date_. For work, yes, he certainly had been. But for a date - Merlin no. He had never felt like it mattered all that much on a date. With Audrey, however, he cared about how he looked just as much as he did when he went to work - although for different reasons, he needed to put his best foot forward. He wanted to impress Audrey. He wanted to prove that he deserved her.

"Hey, let's keep that negativity out of here," Oliver warned. "I'll find a way to date Coach's daughter, you'll have an amazing dinner - good vibes all around!"

"Wow, she's really holding your attention, huh?" Percy teased. "Already making you a better man."

"Yeah, all right... what would you do if I wasn't around for you to make fun of me?"

"I'm glad you've finally come to terms with your purpose in life."

"Guess I'll just shut up now," Oliver grumbled. He stood up with a sigh and added, "Well, I'll let you get on your way to whatever exciting date you have planned. Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"That is a very short list," Percy joked.

* * *

With a pop, Audrey found herself in a dark alley branching off of a busy street in Muggle London. Cars zoomed past and she took in the bright lights of the city as she and Percy stepped out of the alley, hand in hand. She looked up at him with a small smile, his eyes set ahead with determination and a big grin across his face. Audrey liked that look on him.

Percy slowed to a stop in front of a quaint restaurant with lively music and an aroma of spices streaming out onto the street from the open front doors. The sign bearing the restaurant's name used the Arabic alphabet, but the phonetic pronunciation _fajar_ was right below it in smaller letters. "This is it," he declared as he looked down at Audrey with a proud smile.

" _Aurora_ ," Audrey translated. "Nice name."

Percy frowned. "I thought you'd never had Moroccan food before."

"No, but I can read Arabic," Audrey explained. "Mum's a Shafiq."

"Right, well... onwards then," Percy said, the smile returning to his face once more.

They entered the small restaurant and were taken to their table by a smiling waiter, the music and aromas now fully surrounding Audrey's senses. The ceiling of the restaurant was all glass, forming a large skylight that could be used for stargazing. It made Audrey feel even more nostalgic for their encounter at the gala. "So how'd you discover this place anyways?" she asked as they took their seats.

"I, uh, actually had an apartment in Muggle London when I first moved out," Percy explained. "Went for a walk one night, got a little lost, and then I found this place just as I was getting hungry. Went back the next day to make sure it didn't just taste good because I was starving."

"So you've been here a couple times already."

"Oh, I've been here countless times. The chef knows my order."

Audrey laughed and shook her head lightly, a wide smile on her face as she met Percy's eyes. His icy blue eyes drew her in and held her attention, just like they had done that night on the balcony at Kinglsey's gala. Being around Percy made Audrey feel completely at ease and gave her a feeling of pure happiness that she hadn't felt in a long time.

Audrey knew that part of her attraction stemmed from that extraction mission she had led with Keegan during the war. At first, she had been skeptical of Percy Weasley, but when it had come down to making an actual sacrifice for the sake of the Order, he hadn't even hesitated. He had been at the back of her mind ever since then, like a half-forgotten dream, although it all came back to her clear as day when she had seen him on that balcony.

 _Things had gone south far too quickly. This was not the mission they had planned. Yet, here they stood, surrounded by Death Eaters in the grand atrium of the Ministry of Magic, just mere feet away from the Floos - so close, yet so far. They still wore their disguises, but that was mostly because Kelsey knew exactly who had tried to break out her father, Dion, and she enjoyed making a scene. The one upside to her theatrics was that Percy was also still wearing the disguise Audrey had given him, probably because Kelsey assumed he was just some other unknown Order member. He may have already been compromised, but there was no use in having him killed on sight. This mission was already doomed to fail._

 _"You_ really _thought I wouldn't figure it out?" Kelsey asked tauntingly. "The cocky one," she added, turning to Keegan, "and the reckless one," she continued as she turned to face Audrey. "You can pose as Death Eaters all you want, but I'd be able to pick you out in a crowd the size of London."_

 _Her taunting was met with silence. There was no point in entertaining Kelsey. The longer they resisted the more she would try to push their buttons - and that would be precious stalling time that they could use to think up a new plan. Audrey's eyes shifted to her grandfather, the Shacklebolt patriarch, held back by two Death Eaters and covered in blood and bruises. Although he couldn't see past her mask, he stilled smiled lightly just as Audrey looked his way. She already knew that even in the best case scenario, there was no way they would get him out alive - and he was half the mission. Everything would have been perfect if Kelsey hadn't been around - even Percy wasn't aware of which two Order members were sent to extract him and Dion._

 _"I'll give you credit for effort, but I'd like to see how quickly that determination falls when you're at the other end of the Cruciatus Curse," Kelsey threatened as she played with her wand._

I've got a distraction I can use.

 _The voice had seemingly come out of nowhere, but Audrey quickly recognized the familiar echo of Legilimency, and she all too easily recognized Percy's voice._

Use it as a chance to break free and fight - might also wanna try to get your wands back, _Percy's voice echoed._

 _Audrey nodded once, very lightly, and that was all the signal Percy needed. In one sudden movement, he stomped on the feet of the Death Eater holding him, pulled something out of his pocket, and threw it right into the middle of the crowd..._

Wildfire whiz-bangs, unbelievable, _Audrey thought to herself in amusement. Her moment of mirth didn't last long, though, as it took her less than a second to get into fighting mode._

The rest of that mission had been, as far as Audrey was concerned, pure luck. It had been luck that the Death Eaters had taken their wands instead of snapping them. It had been luck that Keegan's wandless magic was the least shaky it had ever been up until that point. It had been luck that she had managed to grab Percy and place his hand on the wall sconce sticking out of a Floo fireplace, the most inconspicuous disguise for a portkey. It had been pure luck that Kelsey's special torturing curse had only hit her leg. By the time it had come down to saving her grandfather, however, their luck had run out.

Audrey was snapped out of her thoughts as she noticed a waiter in the corner of her eye. Percy was talking to him in a hushed tone and pointing somewhere on the beverage list, then the waiter left. Audrey raised an eyebrow and asked, "Should I be scared?"

"No, I think you'll like this," Percy replied with a proud smile. A few moments later, the waiter re-appeared with a rustic-looking bottle of bourbon.

Audrey looked over at Percy, partly pleased and partly curious. "How'd you know?"

"It's what you had at the gala," he replied easily. "And I recognized the brand from Kingsley's office."

Audrey laughed. "Very clever," she praised. "It's a Muggle brand from America - Astrid got it for him for their tenth anniversary because it's a family favourite."

Percy shrugged modestly. "Lucky guess."

Percy reached over to open the bottle and pour some bourbon into their glasses, then shortly after the waiter stopped by again to take their food orders. Spending the night talking with Percy made Audrey feel completely at ease. Delicious food aside, that evening felt like an escape from the politics that was surrounding their world and a chance to let their guards down. Staring into Percy's blue eyes, listening to the sound of his voice... it was the most relaxed and content that Audrey had felt in a long time. It was what she had thought - hoped - life would feel like after the war.

"I've gotta say, Percy, this has been one of the best nights I've had in a while," Audrey said with a small smile.

"I can say the same for myself," he agreed. "You are... amazing."

There was no other word he could think of that would better suit her. She was funny, ambitious, intelligent... attractive, of course, although that had always been difficult to ignore. Every time Percy was around Audrey Shacklebolt, he just felt like he was being drawn in and there was nothing he could do to stop that - nor would he want to do something.

Audrey was about to shoot back a joking reply when it happened.

With a large crash, the skylight cracked and the completely blew into pieces. Audrey didn't even hesitate to take cover under their table, her survival instinct kicking in almost immediately. She went to pull Percy under the table as well but quickly realized that he had had the same idea when she came face to face with him, crouched right next to her under the wooden table.

"What the bloody hell was that?" Audrey asked, instinctively speaking in a hushed voice.

"I can confidently say that's never happened here before," Percy replied quietly with a concerned frown.

Audrey turned around and slowly pushed aside a small corner of the tablecloth to see what was happening in the restaurant. Her heart stopped for a moment as she took in the scene.

She quickly dropped the tablecloth and turned to face Percy again. "Death Eaters," she breathed out.

* * *

 **Yeah I'm gonna end it here because suspense is really great ;) See ya next chapter!**


	6. Wounded

_Chapter 6 - Wounded_

 _27 August 1999_

* * *

" _What?_ " Percy whispered, although Audrey could still hear the shock and urgency in his tone.

Audrey simply nodded in reply. "All right, here's the plan," she started, her fighting instincts coming back so naturally that it almost scared her. "I'll send a patronus to the Auror Office and the Obliviator Headquarters - Merlin knows we'll need it with all the Muggles - but they'll see it, so we have to be ready to get out and duel until help gets here."

Percy nodded in agreement. "All right, that sounds good," he replied. "I don't think they'll be expecting other magical people here so we could catch them by surprise."

"Exactly," Audrey confirmed.

She took a deep breath and then, with the swish of her wand, her tiger patronus flowed out of the tip and ran out from under the table. Audrey threw a warning _stupefy_ before her and Percy rolled out from under the table, wands poised and ready for a fight. When she came face to face with that Death Eater mask, she felt like she was going to be sick, but quickly steeled herself.

Without another moment of hesitation, Percy and Audrey started to throw spells and curses at the Death Eaters - four of them. They held their own surprisingly well, but it was only a matter of time until their end of the fight turned more defensive. The numbers were simply not on their side, and Audrey could feel a slight panic setting in with every step closer that the Death Eaters took to them and every time she would narrowly dodge an ugly-looking curse.

Fortunately, when Audrey did finally get disarmed, her opponent was close enough to her that she could kick the wand out of his hand, then quickly throw a forceful punch at their throat. The masked Death Eater stumbled back with a rasp in his voice and Audrey took advantage of his loss of balance to kick his legs out from under him. She swiftly moved to keep him down with a foot on his chest, then quickly scanned the restaurant for Percy to see how he was holding up. Fairly well, although with her help they could end this mess before the Ministry arrived.

This time, however, Audrey did not move quickly enough.

All of a sudden, Audrey felt a searing pain shoot up the length of her back, from her left shoulder blade all the way down to her tailbone. She let out an agonizing scream and fell over in pain. Her hand hopelessly groped around the floor for her wand but with every little movement of her body, the pain only worsened. She had felt this curse before, and let out a defeated, "Bloody hell," as she realized who their opponents were.

The familiar orange shield of the Protection Charm appeared in front of her, deflecting another curse that had come her way, and she quickly noticed Percy standing over her. She felt him grab her hand and suddenly realized what he was going to do.

"No, no one's here yet," Audrey croaked out. "We can't leave."

"They will be," Percy muttered. "You're my priority now." Then, with the swish of his wand, the whole restaurant was enveloped in darkness. She felt herself getting picked up and, soon after that, the gut-wrenching feeling of Apparition.

* * *

"None of the potions for pain are working - this is some of the worst Dark Magic I've seen in a while."

"We need a new tactic. More glass appears every time you pull a shard out."

"Looks like it's just slithering towards her vital organs... like a snake."

Audrey let out a muffled scream as she bit down on the rolled up towel the Healers had put in her mouth and her hand tightened on the hospital bedsheets. She never thought that she would have to experience this again. She had _prayed_ she wouldn't have to experience this again. The Glass Snake Curse - shards of glass appearing in the skin of the victim that would join together as they entered the body and snake towards all of the victim's vital organs. Whatever was closer, so in this case, Audrey's lungs and kidneys. Completely untreatable and agonizing pain, only rivalled by that of the Cruciatus Curse, and every time a shard of glass got pulled out, it would be replaced by two more shards.

A Kelsey Rowle specialty.

"Sabina... get Sabina," Audrey managed to mumble out. "She knows."

Sabina was the one that had taken care of Audrey the first time she had been hit by her Aunt Kelsey's Glass Snake Curse. Back then, it had been something of a learning experience, but by the end of the agonizing day, the former Ravenclaw had figured out the curse's weakness. Not even a minute later, Audrey's childhood friend was standing over her, clad in her Healer robes and sporting a look of worry.

"We need to freeze the wound," Sabina explained. "It's the curse's failsafe - freeze the wound for long enough and the glass will lose its magic and just turn into sand. After that, we just need to extract and clean out the sand."

"Well, it's not like we have any better ideas. Go ahead, Kopitar."

Sabina nodded and took a deep breath. "All right," she said firmly, then turned to Audrey and warned, "This is gonna hurt."

Audrey scoffed, but the action only resulted in more pain running throughout the length of the scar on her back and the rest of her body. Her grip on the bedsheets tightened once more and she closed her eyes in anticipation. As soon as the magical ice hit her back, the curse started to fight back and increase Audrey's pain. She let out another scream, her face buried in the hospital bed and tears streaming down her face. Audrey tried her best not to move, although at one point she had to be restrained. It felt like it had been hours by the time Sabina finished freezing the wound, although it had only been a matter of minutes.

The pain persisted even after Sabina was done freezing her scar, although after a few hours it started to die down into a dull ache throughout her entire body. Audrey remained laying down on her stomach for the remainder of the night. The constant aching that pulsed throughout her body made it difficult to get any good sleep, but it felt nice just to be lying down. This was not something she would have expected to have to face again.

It was early the next morning when Sabina came around to help her off of her stomach and in a sitting-up position, and when the Healers finally let Percy see her.

He let out a sigh of relief when he saw Audrey sitting up in the hospital bed and quickly moved towards her, but Audrey instantly put her arms up to stop him from hugging her. "Please don't," she croaked out, her voice a bit raspy, "everything hurts. I'll just imagine it."

Percy laughed lightly then, surprising Audrey, his hands slowly and gently cupped her face and he leaned forward to softly kiss her lips. "I'm really glad you're okay," he said quietly.

"I'm really glad I'm okay, too," Audrey replied with a slight smirk. A feeling of warmth and happiness coursed through her when he kissed her, but she simply couldn't pass up the opportunity to tease him.

Percy shook his head in amusement and sat down on the edge of her hospital bed. "Some first date, huh?" he said jokingly.

"I'll have the scar to remember it," Audrey replied, enjoying that she could joke about this with Percy.

Percy looked down at his hands. "I'm sorry, I should've been there to help you," he said sadly.

"Come on, nonsense - I can handle myself. I mean, I took a guy down even after I got disarmed," Audrey bragged. "Besides, another one to add to the collection," she added with a small smile as she moved part of her hospital gown aside to reveal the long scar running down her left leg, from the middle of her thigh all the way down to her ankle.

Percy was about to reply that Audrey shouldn't be so aloof, but the sight of her scar running along her leg suddenly brought back a memory.

 _It was a bloody miracle they had made it this far, but Percy could tell by how things were going that Dion would not be getting saved. His little distraction did buy some time for the two disguised Order members to escape the restraining arms of the Death Eaters and find their wands, but they were far too outnumbered for it to make that much of a difference. The fact that he would be rescued and not Kingsley's own father left a bitter taste in Percy's mouth._

 _One of the Order members - a woman codenamed Viper - had blood running down her leg as the other - a man codenamed Ace - fought back curses. Nonetheless, she forcefully grabbed Percy's arm, swung him around next to her, and placed his hand on one of the sconces sticking out from the Floo fireplace that they were cornered against._

 _"Viper to Royal, we're in position with Knight, over," she managed to say into the enchanted hand radio, her voice clearly strained._

 _"Your leg..." Percy noted with a worried tone._

 _"Yeah, I got this saving your bloody arse, so you better keep your hand on that portkey," she bit back, then let out a painful groan. He was about to voice a retort when the portkey was activated and the three of them were transported out of the war zone that was developing before them._

Percy frowned lightly and slowly asked, "How'd you get that scar?"

Audrey paused for a moment. She should have known Percy would be smart enough to put two and two together. "Ah, well -"

"Audrey!"

The door to the hospital room violently swung open in that moment to reveal none other than Zhara Shacklebolt storming in, arms wide and ready to tackle her daughter. Audrey let out a pained yelp as her mother hugged her, and Zhara immediately jumped back with an apologetic look on her face. Her father, Kristopher, and her brother, Keegan, quickly filed in behind Audrey's mum.

"Sabina filled us in," Kris said, immediately getting down to business, as was his style. "When I get my hands on that woman..."

" _When_ you get your hands on her?" Audrey repeated. She turned to Keegan and asked, "You didn't catch her?"

Keegan shook his head sadly. "They were gone by the time the Aurors and Obliviators got there," he replied. "Do you know who else was with her?"

"I can only assume her idiot husband and two other equally idiotic purists," Audrey grumbled in reply. She couldn't believe it. She had gone through all of that Glass Snake bullshit _again_ and Kelsey had still gotten away. It made her mad just thinking about her _stupid_ aunt off somewhere, glad to have simply had the opportunity to cause her own niece some more pain.

"Weasley, what on earth are you doing here?"

The hospital room was suddenly filled with silence as all of the Shacklebolts fixed their gazes on Percy, who now slowly stood up from Audrey's bed. He met Audrey's eyes, which were widened in frozen shock.

"I, uh, well - actu - "

"We were out for dinner at the restaurant that got attacked," Audrey intervened with a roll of her eyes. Leave it to her father to scare even the most confident of men.

"Audrey, do you know what the words 'lay low' mean?" Kris asked with a deathly calm tone and a glare fixed to his face.

"We were in Muggle London, for Merlin's sake, I didn't think it would be an issue!" Audrey exclaimed. "If I'm being honest, I think it was pure coincidence that we were at the restaurant that Kelsey decided to attack."

"There are _no coincidences_ , Audrey, why on - "

" - _w_ _hy_ , how happy we are that you're alive and well," Zhara interrupted with a pleasant and warm smile on her face, only briefly giving her husband a sharp glare. "We'll discuss the details once you feel better. For now, we'll leave you two alone - and, of course, extend a dinner invitation to Mr. Weasley for looking after you so well."

Of course, Audrey's mother was always the one to defuse even the most explosive of situations. The woman had some kind of talent at calming down the Shacklebolt patriarch even when he was at his angriest, although it still somehow ended with Audrey drawing the short straw. In this case, however, it seemed to be Percy that found himself under the piercing gaze of Zhara Shacklebolt.

"Actually, I should be on my way," Percy started, "but dinner sounds lovely."

"Perfect, we'll make it next Sunday," Zhara declared, "I'm sure Audrey can help you find your way."

Audrey mouthed 'sorry' to Percy as he turned to look at her, but he only smiled and said, "I'll see you later, Audrey," before leaving the hospital room.

"Well, that was delightful," Keegan stated sarcastically with a look of glee on his face. Audrey knew he was enjoying not being the one to get the piss from their parents.

"Your mother's right, this is a discussion for another time," Kris declared with the same stoic look on his face.

"Twenty-five years of marriage have taught you well," Zhara joked, giving Audrey a wink, who rolled her eyes but couldn't hold back a light laugh. Pain coursed through her body right after, but it was well worth it in her opinion.

"I'm just glad you're alive, Audrey," Kris continued sincerely, his stoic expression breaking into a gentle smile. "We'll fix this, don't worry."

"Oh, I'm not worried," Audrey started, "If I were Kelsey, I'd be pretty scared right now."

* * *

Percy left Audrey's hospital room with a smile on his face. He still felt a bit agitated, both from the events of the night before and having the attention of the most intimidating man in the Ministry focused on him, but the dinner invitation had surprisingly eased that agitation. Any other woman, Percy would have surely been a nervous wreck at the thought of having dinner with her parents - but with Audrey, it just made him happy. As scary as her father could be, he simply had a good gut feeling about... well, all of it. That being said, just because he felt it would end well didn't mean that it would also _go_ well from start to finish.

"Oh, there he is - Percy!"

All of a sudden, Percy felt another body barrel into him and quickly figured out that it was his mother, thanks to the red curls flying into his face. He hugged her back without hesitation and gave his father a nod as Arthur approached the two of them.

"We were so worried when we got the owl from the Ministry, we were all just _sitting around_ and didn't even know - oh, Percy, are you okay? Have they treated you? Merlin's beard, everyone's just standing around!"

"Molly, relax, look at him - he's fine," Arthur said calmly as he gently patted his wife on the back, a look of amusement clouding his features.

"Yes, you do look fine, I suppose, although you really need to change these clothes - "

"Mum! I'm really all right," Percy exclaimed with a laugh. "Does everyone else know?"

"Well, George, Ron, and Bill were there when the owl came," Molly stated. She paused, Percy's cheery expression falling slightly, and quickly added, "They, um, just thought it would be easier to see you when you get home."

"Right," Percy agreed with a nod, fighting to keep his expression as blank as possible.

He really couldn't blame them, but it still hurt to think that they hadn't rushed to St. Mungo's like his parents had done. These were the kinds of moments that he just wanted to tell them _why_ things had gone so sour after he had graduated from Hogwarts. He felt like shouting it from the rooftops, if only in the hopes that things would be better once they knew the whole story. Percy knew, however, that this would not be the case. The perfect time to come clean would have been right after the war - but that had been Fred's time. And after that... it would just sound like he was making excuses for himself. There was no such thing as a perfect moment, and Percy had come to accept that a sacrifice never stops being a sacrifice.

"Well, we shouldn't keep them waiting then, huh?"

"Hold on!" a raspy voice breathed out.

Percy turned around to see Audrey stumbling forward out of her hospital room on crutches. His eyes widened and he instantly rushed towards her to hold her up. "Merlin's beard, are you mad?" he exclaimed.

"No, I'm actually in a rather good mood," Audrey shot back smartly. "I'm sorry you got roped into that whole dinner thing, I can try to get you out of it."

"You know, you could just send an owl and not tear open your back," Percy scolded, although Audrey couldn't take him seriously with the grin on his face. "And don't worry about it. I'm actually looking forward to it.

A small smile appeared on Audrey's face. "All right then, see you Sunday," she said.

"See you Sunday," he replied.

Just then, Keegan came out of Audrey's hospital room, instantly rolling his eyes at his younger sister and moving to help her back into the room. He briefly looked over at Percy and whispered, "This is your last chance to escape," as he pointed at Audrey, who only replied by hitting his arm lightly.

Percy turned and headed back towards his parents with an amused smile on his face, but it faltered slightly when he met his mum's eyes.. Molly had a skeptical look on her face, while Arthur gave Percy a knowing smile.

"So, uh, home?" Percy suggested meekly, trying to avoid his mum's gaze. Historically, she wasn't the best at dealing with her sons' love interests.

"Home it is," Arthur declared, smiling widely.

* * *

 **After all that, Audrey is all fine! And, of course, we have a little more insight to the war... stay tuned for the next chapter :) -C**


	7. Camaraderie

_Chapter 7 - Camaraderie_

 _31 August 1999_

* * *

"Can you just sit down for more than five seconds?"

"All right, sorry!" Audrey exclaimed, throwing her hands up defensively, sitting back down in the dining chair with a small smile on her face as she watched Percy move around her kitchen.

Ever since she had been discharged from St. Mungo's, he had stopped by her place for a couple hours after work every day to help her out with whatever she needed, which apparently included cooking for her. In Audrey's typical stubborn fashion, she had resisted the help at first; however, it didn't take long for her to warm up to the idea of having Percy around so much. And, if anything, he clearly seemed to enjoy helping her out. If Audrey didn't know any better, she would have thought she was some sort of experiment for his recipes.

After a few minutes, he came out of the kitchen with two steaming plates in his hands, setting one down in front of Audrey and one in front of himself. "There, shepherd's pie: a classic," he declared.

"You know," Audrey started, "I don't expect you to do all of this for me. I mean, I appreciate it, but - "

"I want to," Percy interrupted. "Seriously, I just like being here for you."

Audrey smiled widely. "I like hearing that."

Percy nodded and, after a short pause added, "Hey, uh, there was actually something we didn't get to finish talking about back at St. Mungo's." He paused for a moment, working up the last bit of courage to bring up what had been at the back of his mind for the last few days. "The scar on your leg - how'd you get it?"

It had been at the back of his mind for quite a while now. The sight of that scar on Audrey's leg had brought back an old memory from the war. He had a feeling he knew exactly how she had gotten that scar, but it almost seemed to much of a coincidence to be true. Still, it would make sense. Audrey had been in the Order and she was skilled enough to have been sent on that kind of mission.

Audrey stayed silent for a moment, looking down at her hands, then let out a small sigh and smiled sadly. "You know how, Knight," she finally replied, meeting his eyes.

In that moment, he perfectly recognized her voice.

 _Once the portkey had brought them to their destination, all three of them ripped off their Death Eater disguises. The man and the woman from the Order still had Disguising Charms covering their faces - a gold band across their eyes that caused certain features of their face to ripple and get distorted if you looked too long. The only way Percy would have been able to tell who had rescued him would have been by the sound of their voices, but so far that wasn't bringing up any names for him._

 _The woman dropped to the floor, letting out a small groan of pain and a cough as she stretched out her leg._ _The man quickly turned to him. "This is your safehouse now. We have a portkey out of here, but Kingsley will be periodically checking in on you. Place is equipped with Apparition Wards, Protection Charms - the whole shebang."_

 _"Yes, all right - what about her? She needs help," Percy replied, nodding towards the woman. Now that she was no longer wearing the Death Eater robes, he could see that the wound was bleeding badly. There were shards of glass sticking out of it and slowly embedding into her skin._

 _"I'll take care of that," the man replied, grabbing a lamp from one of the tables in the small house. He crouched down next to the woman and got her to grab hold of it. "This is our portkey - it'll activate in a minute. Trust me when I say that the best thing you can do now for the Order is lay low."_

 _"Don't be a hero, Knight," the woman managed to get out with a smirk._

 _Before Percy could start to argue, the portkey was activated and the two Order members had disappeared._

"It was the same curse as last night," Percy recalled. He had seen the glass coming out of Audrey's back before the Healers had taken her in. "What is that? I've never seen it before."

"My Aunt Kelsey's Glass Snake Curse," Audrey answered bitterly. "She's really out to get me, the raving mad bitch."

"Kelsey as in... Kelsey Rowle?" Percy asked. She was one of the most wanted Death Eaters nowadays, one of the few that had yet to be apprehended, alongside her husband, Thorfinn Rowle, and a few others.

"The one and only," Audrey confirmed. "At least no one's calling her a Shacklebolt anymore."

Percy stayed silent for a moment, then finally asked, "How come you never told me? That you were the one that pulled me out, I mean."

"How come you never told me?" Audrey retorted with a small smirk. "Actually, how come you never told _anyone_?" she added, genuinely curious.

"It wasn't my time," Percy answered with a shrug. "With Fred's death after the war, that was quite enough for my family to worry about. It was Fred's time. And after that... every scenario I played in my head just sounded like me making excuses for myself. It was too late."

"I suppose so," Audrey agreed tentatively, "but you really don't think your family would want to know?"

Percy shrugged. "Who knows? It could actually help," he admitted. "I'm pretty sure George and Ron have never fully forgiven me. But I also don't see them suddenly warming up to me either."

"True, but I don't think they would have either way," Audrey pointed out. In her experience, people didn't like to admit they were wrong, even if it was the easier option. "At the end of the day, it's your secret to tell - it's stayed safe with me and Keegan this long - but if you do ever decide to tell them, I'll be there to back you up."

"Thank you, Audrey," Percy said sincerely. Then, he frowned slightly and added, "Wait, Keegan was the other Order member that day?"

Audrey laughed and shook her head at Percy. "Nothing escapes the great Percy Weasley!"

* * *

 _4 September 1999_

* * *

"Hermione, I need your advice."

" _My_ advice?"

Percy let out a heavy sigh and slowly nodded, trying to ignore Hermione's skeptical look. Dinner at The Burrow had just wrapped up and while most of the Weasley family was in the living room enjoying biscuits with tea and Exploding Snap, Percy was sure he could find Hermione in the kitchen pouring over some books for her Auror training. Sure enough, that was exactly how he had found her.

"If I talk about this to any of my brothers or Ginny, they'll just use it as ammunition for new jokes and tell Mum _way_ too much," Percy explained, "plus, I'm doubtful that they would actually be all that helpful."

"My interest is piqued," Hermione declared, "go on."

Percy took a seat across from her at the dining table. "So, let's say, hypothetically - "

"We both know this is about you so let's keep it simple," Hermione interrupted with a smirk.

Percy let out another sigh. "All right, here's the thing: that whole thing with me getting caught in a Death Eater attack?" Percy started. "I was out having dinner with someone and now her parents have invited me for dinner."

"Oh wow, okay - "

"That's not all," Percy interrupted. "She's Kingsley's niece."

" _That_ was the attack you got caught in?" Hermione asked in a hushed voice. "Wait - you went on a date with _Audrey Shacklebolt_?"

"What, you know her from Auror training?" Percy questioned.

"Uh, _everyone_ knows her from Auror training," Hermione explained. "She's probably the best duellist in all four years of the programme - even managed to take down the Head Auror during a sparring practice once."

"Wow," Percy said, a dreamy smile appearing on his face.

"Uh, okay, so back on track," Hermione continued a little awkwardly. "You wanna know how to handle meeting her parents?"

"Well, yeah," Percy confirmed. "Both of her parents are insanely intimidating."

"You're not wrong there, but if I were you I wouldn't overthink it," Hermione advised. "If you really wanna do something nice, get flowers for her mum and bring a bottle of wine - but, again, I wouldn't stress it. Making good impressions is kind of your specialty."

"You really think so?" Percy asked uncertainly. "I just want this to go well is all."

It wasn't that he was nervous about a dinner with Audrey's parents - quite the opposite, actually. He was looking forward to the dinner, mostly because it was yet another thing he could do with Audrey by his side. His concern arose more from the fear of her parents not liking him; although hearing Hermione's positivity was starting to put him at ease. Part of him had always suspected that if anyone was smart enough to figure out he had played a role in the Order, it would have been Hermione - although this was never actually something they had talked about.

"Percy, I know you don't hear this nearly enough, so here it is: you're a likeable person," Hermione stated plainly, "you just happen to be part of a really stubborn family."

Percy chuckled lightly and slowly nodded. "Thanks, Hermione, I really needed that."

* * *

Audrey's eyes flitted from the cards in her hand to Keegan several times, a blank look on her face. Then, one by one, she laid her cards out on the table, a wide smile slowly spreading on her face.

"Fifteen for two, fifteen for two, and a run for six, loser!" she exclaimed, excitedly moving her peg on the cribbage board between her and Keegan.

"You take this game way too seriously," he said with a roll of his eyes.

"Spoken like someone that just got skunked," Audrey taunted.

She would be the first to admit that she was overly competitive when it came to card games - especially crib. It was just something about the strategizing and the satisfaction of winning that gave her a rush. Plus, she almost always beat Keegan at crib, so it was always good fun for her. Audrey figured he had been so willing to play the card game because of her injury, but if that were the case, she would milk his pity for as long as she could.

"All right, I'm done for the night," Keegan declared, sweeping up the cards. "We've got quite the day tomorrow," he added with a smirk.

Audrey simply rolled her eyes at her brother. "He'll be fine, trust me," she stated.

"Oh, I know _he'll_ be fine," Keegan agreed, "it's you I'm a little worried about."

"Oh yeah, how so?" Audrey questioned.

"Well, aside from your tendency to butt heads with Dad," Keegan started, "this has been moving along pretty quickly."

Audrey sighed - her brother had her there. She was quite skilled at pushing all of her father's buttons, and things with her and Percy were going pretty fast. She hadn't had such a continuous stretch of excitement ever since the war, so even Audrey had wondered if she was simply getting caught up in the moment. However, over the last week, Audrey had realized that she didn't mind how quickly things were moving. She enjoyed being around Percy and he somehow managed to seize every possible opportunity to amaze her a little more. He made her feel that cheesy kind of happy that no one likes to admit they feel.

"Yeah, it has, but it feels right," Audrey replied. "Aside from the part where I almost died, I don't think I would've done things another way."

"If you feel that way, then I think things tomorrow will be just fine," Keegan said with a reassuring smile.

"Plus we had our first kiss like _months_ ago - "

" - wait, wha - "

" - but anyways, enough about me, let's talk about you," Audrey segued rapidly. "How much longer are you planning to put off telling Mum and Dad about your little relationship?"

Keegan shook his head at his sister and replied, "It's not a good time. Her father's still on trial, there's so much going on with - "

"Keegan" Audrey interrupted. "With Daphne Greengrass, it's never going to be a good time. What are you scared of?"

Keegan pursed his lips in thought as the room was filled with silence. "Dad said lay low - "

"Yeah, I know what Dad said," Audrey interrupted once more, then pointed at herself with her thumb. "You see me listening?"

"You never listen," Keegan joked. His happy expression quickly fell, though. "I don't want to get her involved in our stupid drama on top of her own issues."

"Oh, Keegan," Audrey started with a heavy sigh, "we're always going to have drama. Our last name is Shacklebolt. Our uncle is the Minister of Magic. I'm dating a bloody Weasley - there will be _no end_ to this drama. I know what you're actually scared of."

Keegan looked away from his sister's piercing gaze in that moment and crossed his arms. He knew what she was going to say, and she was right.

"You're worried that you're going to scare her off," Audrey declared. "Keegs, listen to me: if she hasn't left your arse after two years, she's not leaving anytime soon."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Keegan replied sarcastically, but Audrey could tell he did appreciate her reasoning. For all of their bickering, Keegan and Audrey were always there for each other and always had each others' backs.

"Plus, you're right," Audrey added, "Gran will love her."

* * *

 **This was a slightly shorter, cheerier chapter to make up for the craziness of the last couple chapters :P Hope you enjoyed! -C x**


	8. Vengeful

_Chapter 8 - Vengeful_

 _5 September 1999_

* * *

Audrey carefully walked on the grassy grounds of the cemetery, the heel of her shoe just slightly sinking into the damp ground. Her grandmother gripped her arm a little tighter as the two women made their way together along the uneven soil. The older woman was much shorter than Audrey, just a mere half inch above the younger woman's shoulders in height, but she walked with a perfectly straight back and her chin held high - just as she walked on any other occasion. Still, even with her perfect posture and stoic demeanour, Audrey could see the tears running down Lucinda Shacklebolt's face.

This had been their Sunday morning tradition ever since the war had ended: wake up early, go to the cemetery to visit Grandpa Dion, have breakfast together in Hogsmeade. Audrey had always been incredibly close with her grandmother, who she greatly admired. A strong woman and a skilled wandmaker, Lucinda Shacklebolt, born Fawley, was the youngest of five children, the other four of which were all boys. While the Fawley name was widely recognized in England, Audrey's grandmother had been raised in a wizarding town in South Africa. There, the only reason anyone respected her grandmother's family had been because of their wandmaking skills. The pureblood hierarchy there had been a whole different playing field.

Audrey slowly came to a stop once they reached her grandfather's grave and, like every single Sunday, Lucinda's head immediately dropped and she let out a sob. Audrey sighed heavily and tightly embraced her grandmother. It was one thing for your husband to die in a war - but a whole other thing when he was killed by his only daughter. Just thinking about Kelsey's betrayal made Audrey angry.

Lucinda pulled away and wiped her eyes with a handkerchief, then swished her wand to create a bouquet of flowers for her husband's grave. She took a step back and smiled sadly. "'Do not go gentle into that good night,'" Lucinda read off of the gravestone. Looking up at her granddaughter, she added, "He would've liked that. Where is that from again, dear?"

Lucinda always asked that question, not because she truly forgot, but because it gave her something nice to think about. "A muggle poet," Audrey replied with a small smile, her eyes fixed on the gravestone. "I picked it out."

"You always were the poetic one," Lucinda admitted. She looped her arm with her granddaughter's once more and turned away from the gravestone, "let's leave him with his poetry, then."

"And his very beautiful flowers," Audrey added as she turned away as well.

"Ah yes, the most useful spell for any pureblood housewife," her grandmother said sarcastically with a roll of her eyes.

Audrey laughed. For her time, Lucinda had always been considered an anomaly. An unnaturally ambitious, untameable woman. People had called Dion Shacklebolt mad for marrying her, but as he had always told Audrey and Keegan: "the heart wants what it wants."

"Now, Kris tells me you have quite the special dinner guest tonight," Lucinda started, giving Audrey a knowing glance.

"Did he really use the word 'special?'" Audrey questioned with some disbelief in her tone.

Lucinda shrugged, a sly smile on her face. "Well, I consider him special," she admitted. "Both Kingsley and Dion always spoke highly of him - and Merlin knows he's a proper _man_ , unlike that silly _boy_ you dated when you were at Hogwarts."

"I'm never living that down, am I?" Audrey muttered.

"A _Pucey_ , you really should've known better, dear," Lucinda chided. "Nonetheless, we can't be held responsible for adolescent mistakes, I suppose."

"Ah, well Keegan will be glad to hear that," Audrey joked.

Lucinda laughed at her granddaughter's comment. "I sure hope that Greengrass girl is making him a proper man now," she replied, "Merlin knows he was stuck at the maturity of a fifteen year-old for a worryingly long time."

"Hush, Gran, you're not supposed to know that information," Audrey scolded. "You would've made a terrible Slytherin, you know?"

"So your grandfather would always tell me," Lucinda replied with a shrug. After a pause, she added, "You know, no matter what mistakes the two of you have made or will make, I am proud to call you my grandchildren."

"Thank you, Gran," Audrey replied, smiling at her grandmother.

"Although, Merlin's beard, was I _thrilled_ to hear you're seeing a Weasley!"

"All right, moment's over," Audrey muttered to herself as she shook her head at her grandmother in amusement.

* * *

Percy had spent yet another night at the Burrow. This was starting to turn into a repetitive pattern that Molly had most certainly taken note of, although Percy only realized it when his mother 'jokingly' (read: almost completely seriously) asked if he was moving back home. As much as Percy loved his family, he also loved his independence and his own personal space... and not waking up to a wet finger stuck in his ear, courtesy of George. Over the last few days, however, he would be the first to admit that he had missed being so physically close with his family, which was why he was probably sleeping over so much. There was a certain coziness to the messy atmosphere of the Burrow. It was a comfort that helped him cope with the craziness of the last couple weeks.

Now, however, as Percy furiously searched for his one good pair of cufflinks, he was not at all appreciating that coziness.

"Where the bloody hell are they..." he muttered to himself as he searched through the living room.

"Looking for these?"

Percy turned at the sound of George's voice to see his younger brother standing in the living room with the cufflinks in his palm. Percy rolled his eyes and strode over to George, "Oy, come on, mate, these don't come cheap," he scolded as he grabbed the cufflinks from George's hand.

"Lookin' _mighty_ fancy, Perce," George stated with a raised eyebrow.

"Got an important dinner," Percy replied with a shrug as he put on his cufflinks. He avoided George's piercing gaze.

"Yeah, I heard - with the Shacklebolts," George said, "the pureblood side."

"What the hell's that supposed to mean?" Percy demanded, frowning at his brother.

"Just that her aunt is one of the most wanted Death Eaters - "

"Her aunt who has literally tried to kill her on several ocassions?" Percy interrupted. He could feel his temper slowly getting the better of him. "Just get to the point, George."

His younger brother scoffed. "Ya know, you were a prat before, but now you're in a whole other realm," George bit back. "Just like you to not give a shit about what the Death Eaters are doing."

"Do you bloody _hear_ yourself right now?" Percy exclaimed. He scoffed and threw his hands up. "You know what - _fuck it_. I don't have to defend myself to you." How could George be so blinded? Everyone had ties they regretted, but Audrey had been in the Order, right alongside Fred and George.

"Oh, is that right? Are you forgetting the last _five years_ \- "

"No, I'm not!" Percy shouted. "I _never_ forget the last five years, so shut your damn mouth because you have _no idea_ what you're talking about!"

" _I_ have no idea what I'm talking about?"

"If you even knew _half_ the shit I - "

" _Boys!_ "

Percy and George suddenly stopped their shouting match, their gazes turning to their father and mother, who had just entered the living room. Arthur, the source of the voice, appeared to be a mix of angry and sad, while Molly almost looked terrified. Percy sighed and rubbed his temple as George looked away from him with his arms crossed. It had been a while since there had been so much shouting in the living room of the Burrow.

"What in Merlin's name is going on down here?" Arthur asked.

"Nothing," Percy replied, before George could open his mouth. "I'm late for a dinner," he added, before quickly making his way out of the living room and heading for their Floo.

* * *

Audrey quickly stood up from her armchair as the Floo in her father's study lit up and Percy stumbled out. She strode over to him with a smile, the sound of her heels echoing throughout the large room, as she swept the soot off of his shoulders with a wave of her wand.

"Thanks," Percy replied with a small, forced smile.

"Of course, but it will cost you," Audrey said. "You can pay now, or with interest later."

"With interest sounds promising," Percy decided.

Audrey paused for a moment as she looked him over. He seemed tense - or at least more so than usual. "Are you all right?" she asked slowly.

"Yeah, I'm..." Percy trailed off and sighed. He really didn't have the heart to lie when Audrey's gaze literally bore through his soul. She was a living, breathing lie detector. He gently placed his hands on her arms and smiled. She was beautiful, and even with that concerned frown on her face, Percy felt himself relaxing around her. "No, but it can wait - I need the distraction," he answered

Audrey's smile widened. "All right, then buckle up - you're in for the distraction of your life."

Audrey took hold of his hand and started to lead Percy out of the grand study. The place was filled with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves lining the walls and a large, mahogany desk directly by the massive bay windows that faced the garden outside. Percy almost felt like staying in the majestic room, but he followed along with Audrey's tug at his arm as they made their way to the dining room. With Audrey right in front of him, leading the way, Percy noted how her forest green dress left her back entirely bare, leaving her new scar completely visible. It was healing well, but seeing it still made Percy feel a little sick to his stomach just thinking about that horrible day.

With a sharp turn around a corner, Percy suddenly found himself face-to-face with the rest of the Shacklebolt family waiting patiently by the long dining table. He cleared his throat and, suddenly feeling a little self-conscious, nervously fiddled with his cufflinks.

"Mr. Weasley, just in the nick of time," Kristopher stated plainly, his gaze fixed on Percy.

Audrey shook her head lightly. Leave it to her father to actually _time_ him.

"Well, the food's ready when we are," Zhara said breezily. "Drinks, anyone?" With the swish of her hand, some bourbon appeared in two of the glasses - one at the head of the table and one just another seat over.

"Pour another for Mr. Weasley," Kristopher said, "I'm sure he'll be a bourbon man for the night."

"Dad, don't - "

"No, that's perfect," Percy intervened with a small smile, "and please, call me Percy."

With a shrug, Zhara filled another glass with bourbon, and conjured another two glasses of wine, one for her and one for Keegan. As everyone moved to take their seats, Audrey leaned in closer to Percy for a bit and quietly said, "Don't feel like you have to do everything he says - I never do."

"I have a feeling we're not held to the same standard," Percy whispered back with a small laugh.

Unsurprisingly, Kristopher sat at the end of the table. Zhara and Keegan took the seats right next to him, while Audrey sat down next to her mother and Percy right across from Audrey, next to Keegan. As soon as they had all taken their seats, Zhara waved her wand again and several dishes filled with steaming food came floating into the dining room and gently landed on the table. Percy took in all of the food before him pot roast, mashed potatoes, roasted vegetables, Yorkshire pudding, and fresh dinner rolls. It was practically a feast.

"I hope you like a good Sunday roast," Kristopher said. "Welcome to our home, Percy."

* * *

" _Oh_ here's one of Audrey learning to swim."

"Mum - no!" Audrey quickly reached towards Zhara, her hand grasping for the photo, but her mother held the photo just out of her daughter's reach and quickly passed it to Percy.

Percy laughed at the photo - a young Audrey, clearly frustrated, kicking water toys into the pool with her arms crossed - but he quickly let out a groan of pain as Audrey reached across the table and smacked his hand to get the photo back.

"Bloody hell, didn't know I'd be so targeted tonight," Audrey grumbled.

"Well we certainly can't do this to Keegan, he was far too photogenic as a child," Zhara reasoned.

"Perfect, thank you, that really makes me feel better," Audrey said sarcastically. She met Percy's gaze, and he gave her a wide smile and a wink. It melted Audrey's annoyance away instantly.

"Ah, here's a good one to make up for it," Kristopher declared, pulling a photo out of an album. "First day of Auror training."

Kirstopher slid the photo over to Percy. Audrey stood proudly by the main gates of the Shacklebolt Estate, dressed in perfectly pristine Auror robes and a wide smile on her face. She looked younger in that photo and her hair was pulled back in a perfect ponytail, a sight which vaguely reminded Percy of Audrey as a prefect.

"Those Auror robes look like they were made for you," Percy remarked as he handed the photo back to Kristopher.

"Interesting," Kristopher voiced, a small smile finally breaking through his stoic expression, "that's exactly what I had said that day."

"You know how the saying goes - great minds think alike," Audrey commented with a grin.

"Let's not push it, Audrey," Kristopher replied, but the smile stayed on his face as his gaze turned back to Percy. Audrey's grin didn't even falter.

She couldn't have imagined any way this dinner could have gone better. Her mum and dad liked Percy. They had a tough way of showing it, but that was how they were raised - keep your emotions to yourself. Still, Audrey knew them well enough to know that the main reason they kept pulling out embarrassing photos of her was because they didn't want him to leave. They liked his company, and just thinking about that made Audrey happy.

 _I'm glad this is going so well_ , Percy's voice echoed in Audrey's mind and she had to stop herself from jumping up in her seat. She would never get used to him being a Legilimens, although it was bloody convenient. She looked over at him with a smile. Frankly, she shouldn't have been surprised this was going so well.

As the laughter died down, Audrey glanced over at her mother to see the older woman frowning as she looked toward the entrance of the dining room. Audrey gently touched Zhara's arm. "Mum, you all right?" she asked

"Something's off," Zhara muttered in reply. "I thought... I thought I heard the Floo."

Audrey stood up slowly, her grip tightening on her wand. Keegan followed her lead and asked, "Are you sure, Mum?"

Zhara shook her head lightly, "Well, no, but I swear - "

Suddenly, Audrey's and Keegan's wands jumped out of their hand as the familiar scarlet Charm zoomed into the room. Without hesitation, Percy, Kristopher, and Zhara were on their feet and drawing their wands, but they were disarmed just as quickly. A tense silence filled the room as they all looked around helplessly, trying to find the source of the Disarming Charm.

Suddenly, the bay windows in the dining room shattered and Audrey's vision was obstructed by pure darkness. She frantically looked around, trying to get a glimpse of what was happening, as she heard wood and glass cracking and breaking and the loud whistle of wind. With a loud swoosh, Audrey suddenly regained her vision and found herself standing back-to-back with Percy and the rest of her family. The dining table had been pushed towards the windows of the dining room and blown to smithereens, leaving the dining area completely open. It took her only another second to realize that they were surrounded. Audrey felt sick as her eyes took in the ominous Death Eater masks before her.

One of the Death Eaters reached up and pushed back the hood of the outfit, revealing her smirking face. Audrey felt her heart stop as she recognized the woman before her.

"Now, is that any way to greet your dear auntie?"

* * *

 **Aaaand we're back with the suspenseful chapter endings ;) Fear not, I'll make up for it next chapter with a loooong and awaited scene! -C x**


	9. Grudges

_Chapter 9 - Grudges_

 _5 September 1999_

* * *

Audrey could feel her lip shaking as she tightened her jaw and tried to keep herself together. She felt Percy reach behind her and grab her hand, which she immediately squeezed tightly. Her heart was beating wildly. She had always thought about what she would do the next time she came face to face with Kelsey, but now that she was in that very scenario, Audrey felt powerless and... _scared_. She wasn't ready. She didn't want to see that _horrible_ woman. The woman that had tried to kill her twice now. The woman that had killed Grandpa Dion - Kelsey's own father. Audrey felt a mixture of fear and anger course through her body.

"Sorry I missed the big meal, but you know I'm one for making an entrance," Kelsey said with a shrug. Her piercing hazel eyes shifted to Percy. "Wasn't planning on the collateral damage, but there's no such thing as a perfect mission. Audrey, Keegan, I'm sure you two know _all_ about that."

"What do you want, Kelsey?" Kristopher bellowed as he took a step forward to face his younger sister. The other three Death Eaters quickly turned their wands on him, but the Shacklebolt patriarch didn't even flinch. "Get to the point and get out."

"Oh, my dear brother - you could have brought a lot of respect to the Shacklebolt name, once upon a time," Kelsey taunted. "Look at this place now - full of _blood traitors_ \- Shacklebolt, Weasley, what a sad variety of people."

"I said _get to the point_ ," Kristopher repeated threateningly.

Kelsey laughed darkly as she took a few slow strides to stand just a foot away from her older brother. "You don't scare me, Kris," she said in a low voice. "You never have. You walk around, thinking you are just so _strong_ and _intimidating_. But let's not forget - your two, just graduated children did more in the war than you ever did. Because you were too scared of _me_."

Audrey could see the pure rage boiling behind her father's eyes. Kristopher Shacklebolt was a generally calm person. Although intimidating, he always held a perfectly composed and stoic demeanour and never bared his emotions quite like Audrey and Keegan would from time to time. However, Audrey knew he was very capable of raining hell on anyone that crossed him if it was his only move, and she was very scared that this would be the moment they would all see the result of decades of pent-up anger.

"But I suppose I'll do you this one favour and _get to the point_ , as you so put it," Kelsey continued. "I want two things: the deed to the estate, and dear Audrey."

"You can have my middle finger, you twat!"

Audrey's fear had melted almost instantaneously as soon as Kelsey had made her demand, and the words had poured out of Audrey's mouth before she had even had a chance to think about them. Kelsey's head snapped towards her with a shocked and angered look on her face, but Audrey only challenged her gaze and lifted her chin.

" _What_ did you just say?" Kelsey demanded.

"You heard me," Audrey said. "The only thing you're getting from us is a firm _fuck you_ , so you can be on your way."

Kelsey stared her down for a long moment of silence. Then, the woman burst into laughter and turned around to look at one of the other Death Eaters. "Darling, did you hear that? She's gotten a bit of an attitude since last time," Kelsey said between laughs.

The other Death Eater pulled back his hood and Audrey quickly recognized him as Kelsey's husband, Thorfinn. He had an amused smile on his face as he shook his head. "I don't think you understand - we're getting what we want, one way or another," Thorfinn said. "We'll be nice and let you choose how."

"You can have the deed," Kristopher said, the room suddenly growing quiet, "but if you think you'll lay another finger on Audrey, I can tell you now it'll be over my dead body."

"That can be arranged, dear brother," Kelsey replied bitingly. Her gaze unfaltering, she added, "Ariane, Antonin, go sack his study for the deed."

"I can show you - "

"You're not leaving my sight, Kris," Kelsey interrupted sharply. "No, I know you are all far too smart and cunning for me to let you out of my sights," she continued as she paced around them. Thorfinn kept his wand pointed their way the entire time, daring one of them to step even a toe out of line.

Kelsey stopped pacing when she reached Percy and shook her head lightly. "You, especially, you little rat," she said bitterly. "You are _very_ sneaky for a lion."

Percy stared back at the older woman, his face blank, and stayed completely silent. He recalled from their narrow escape during the war that Kelsey loved to taunt her prey, so Percy felt no need to humour her. As much as her overconfidence irritated him, he knew the smartest move was to stay quiet. He suddenly felt Audrey squeeze his hand again and looked over at her. Her eyes were wide and her jaw tightly clenched. She looked furious and, in a way, sad. As if she could no longer take surviving these encounters by the skin of her teeth. Percy could tell Kelsey's wrath was starting to take a toll on her.

"Aw, how sweet," Kelsey mocked. "You know, you have quite the habit of getting between me and my niece. For your sake, I'd recommend sticking to your blood traitor ways and finding a sweet little mudblood instead."

Percy scoffed. "And make it easy for you? I don't think so," he bit back.

"Ah, he talks!" Kelsey exclaimed sarcastically. "What a perfect man!"

 _Listen carefully._

Audrey and Percy fought the initial urge to look around as the familiar echo of Legilimency filled their minds. They quickly recognized Zhara's voice, though, and Audrey felt a little betrayed that she didn't even know her own mother was a Legilimens; although she supposed that this was hardly Zhara's biggest secret, considering the confidential nature of an Unspeakable's job.

 _Kris, use wandless magic to bring down the Apparition Wards without getting caught_ , Zhara commanded. _Keegan, on my signal, use your wandless magic to make the room completely dark. Percy, Audrey, you apparate next to Thorfinn at the same time to get our wands - they're in his left pocket - then apparate back to us so we can have our wands. As soon as the lights are back on, we take them down._

Audrey felt a small surge of confidence run through her - if there was one thing her mother was good at, it was strategizing. Her father had started learning wandless magic at just sixteen years old and was definitely strong enough to handle the task. Keegan was good enough to clear the path for Audrey and Percy, who were both skilled enough as duellists to take care of Kelsey and Thorfinn on their own if need be.

"You know, I really should stop wasting my time on Audrey," Kelsey continued as Zhara finished running through her plan. Audrey could see her father's hands just slightly moving behind his back as her aunt moved past her and stopped in front of Zhara. Kelsey slowly drew her wand and pressed it to Zhara's throat. "You're his real weakness," she said in a low voice.

Kristopher's hand movements suddenly stopped as he looked over at Zhara, but they all instantly heard her commanding voice: _d_ _o your job._

"I genuinely think our parents loved you more than they loved me," Kelsey continued bitterly. "Beautiful, prim, and proper Zhara. But I bet you have your fair share of secrets. That's how it goes when you're an Unspeakable. I bet I could break this family with a bit of digging."

 _Now._

With a quick wave of his hands, Keegan filled the room with darkness just as Percy and Audrey disappeared with a pop and reappeared right next to a confused Thorfinn. Audrey quickly grabbed their wands as Percy sent a forceful punch towards his jaw that produced a loud crack. They heard his body thud to the floor just as they apparated to where the rest of Audrey's family was. As soon as Zhara had a wand in her hand, the room was illuminated once again and she didn't hesitate to send a strong _stupefy_ right at Kelsey's chest before the Death Eater could even think to draw her wand again.

Just then, the other two Death Eaters stormed into the room and Audrey and Percy quickly turned around to stun them as well. Keegan waved his own wand to produce a large cage, then procured a spell that dragged the four Death Eaters into the magical cage. The cage lock clicked shut just as Kelsey slowly started to sit up. Percy, Audrey, and the rest of the Shacklebolt family walked towards the trapped Death Eaters.

" _I'll kill you!_ " Kelsey shrieked. " _I'LL KILL YOU!_ "

"You keep saying that and yet you keep failing," Zhara taunted. "You always did talk too much, Kelsey."

Kelsey scoffed. Suddenly, with a smirk, she turned her sights to Percy. "Guess what, Weasley - I'm the one that killed your brother."

In an instant, everything grew silent around Percy and he felt his heart stop as he met Kelsey's wild gaze. Her words echoed in his mind and every time they repeated, he felt his shock slowly turning into anger. Seemingly beyond his own control, Percy felt his grip tighten on his wand until his knuckles grew white. As Kelsey bent her head back and let out a manic laugh Percy rushed forward with his wand raised and aimed right at her.

"No!"

Percy suddenly stopped in his tracks as Audrey jumped in front of him. He was frozen in place, his wand still raised even as Audrey held up her empty hands. Her eyes quickly flitted to behind Percy as she slowly said, "Wand down, Keegan."

"Audrey - "

"I said _wand down_!"

"No, I'm - "

With a wave of her hands, Keegan's wand jumped out of his hands. He looked back at his little sister in shock.

"You think you're the only genius that can learn how to do wandless magic?" Audrey demanded. She turned back to Percy as Keegan and her parents watched warily. "Percy, put your wand down," Audrey ordered calmly.

"Did you - did you hear her?" Percy asked shakily. "I can't, Audrey. I can't - "

"Percy," Audrey started, "she's lying. She's a manipulator. Look at her - she's desperate. She's only trying to get a rise out of you."

"I killed him in cold blood!" Kelsey shrieked. "I killed the brat!"

Percy's grip tightened on his wand as tears pooled in his eyes. "Percy, please," Audrey whispered. "You're better than this. She was fighting Kingsley for almost the whole battle - it wasn't her."

"What if - "

"Fred died a hero," Audrey continued. "He died fighting for what was right and for what he believed in. Don't let _her_ ruin his memory."

Percy's gaze finally shifted away from Kelsey and to Audrey. She was standing completely still before him, her arms up and her hands spread open, with a pleading look on her face. Her eyes didn't ever move away from his own. Slowly, Audrey took a step towards Percy, and when she noticed him relax slightly, she quickly moved to embrace him. He didn't hesitate to tightly hug her back, his wand falling out of his hands. Audrey felt his body shake as he took a deep breath and she hugged him tightly.

"You're not a bad person, Percy," Audrey whispered.

"Thank you," he whispered back.

* * *

Audrey stood by Percy, her hand tightly holding his, as Aurors filed into the Shacklebolt dining room and started inspecting the damage. A couple Aurors took on the task of handling the trapped Death Eaters, while Head Auror Robards headed straight for Kristopher and Zhara. They seemed to be deep in conversation, Robards nodding along seriously to everything Kristopher was saying. A few minutes later, Robards shook hands with Kristopher and headed towards Audrey and Percy.

"Shacklebolt, I'm disappointed to see you're not getting any rest during your medical leave," Robards said sternly, although Audrey knew that sternness stemmed from genuine concern.

"No rest for the wicked," Audrey joked with a shrug.

Robards laughed lightly as he turned to Percy. "Ah, Percy. You have..." he started, "a very worked-up family waiting for you at home."

Percy let out a heavy sigh and nodded. "Right, I should get to them," he said. Turning to Audrey with an apologetic look, he added, "I'll come by as soon as I can."

"Go, go - don't worry about me," Audrey replied with a wave of her hand and a small smile. "I'm a big girl."

With a smile spreading on his face, Percy quickly leaned in and kissed Audrey's cheek before running off for the Floo. Audrey looked after him with a small smile on her face, but she was quickly snapped out of her dreamy state when Robards cleared his throat. As she looked back at her boss, Audrey found the older man with a smirk on his face.

"You are undeniably smitten, Shacklebolt," he said slowly.

Audrey laughed lightly. "What can I say - I have a soft spot for the spectacles," she joked.

Robards let out a small chuckle. "You deserve this, Audrey," he said, his tone much more sincere. "Things are hopefully going to get more peaceful now for your family. You have the whole Auror Office on the side of the Shacklebolts."

Audrey gave her mentor a sincere smile. "I hope you're right, Robards. I could really use some good news."

"Ah, well, I am fresh out of that," Robards said a little dryly.

With a frown, Audrey slowly asked, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, well... I went personally to the Weasleys' to inform them of the situation," Robards started, "and, uh, they had some emotionally charged opinions on certain... aspects."

"Robards," Audrey started in a low voice, "what happened?"

"They may have voiced their _concern_ , uh, that these situations have only started being a problem for Percy _very_ recently," Robards explained nervously, "namely, in your presence."

" _What?_ " Audrey seethed.

"Audrey, listen, you are by far one of my favourite people," Robards started, "but you need to realize that they are worried for their son. The things they say now are just... a byproduct of their worry."

"They think I'm trying to kill him!" Audrey exclaimed.

"Now, that's hardly what they said," Robards reasoned. "Their worry is not entirely misplaced, all right? Percy... he didn't fight the same war you did."

As Robards' words sunk in, Audrey finally realized _why_ the Weasleys would be so worried for Percy. And, in that moment, she had a pretty strong gut feeling of what Percy might do.

"That's where you're wrong, Robards."

* * *

As soon as Percy stumbled out of the Floo, his eyes found almost his whole family huddled at their old dining table. Their heads immediately snapped up upon his entrance, and he quickly felt the sting of the worry and sadness in their eyes. Molly's face was spotty and her eyes red, while Arthur sat next to her with his hand gently rubbing her back. George sat next to them with his arms crossed and a stony look on his face. At the far end of the table, Percy could practically feel the ice in Ron's glare as Hermione sat next to him and held his hand. Finally, Percy noticed Bill and Fleur leaning against the kitchen sink just behind Arthur and Molly.

"Wow, so... you're all here," Percy started slowly.

"Oh, Percy," Molly said with a sob, "thank Merlin you're alive."

"Mum, please don't cry, look - I'm fine," Percy pleaded. "Alive and well."

"Perce, come on," Bill said in a tired voice, "this is getting ridiculous."

"Ridiculous?" Percy repeated with an incredulous tone in his voice. "You think I'm going out there looking to get killed by Death Eaters?"

"Well, you're certainly not trying to avoid them," George commented icily.

"This rubbish again?" Percy bit back, turning his sights to George. "What is your problem with her? So she was a Slytherin - get over it."

"Percy, no one thinks you're trying to get yourself killed," Arthur intervened, giving George a pointed look. As he turned his gaze back to his older son, he continued, "I know that Audrey and her family are very honourable people. I remember how they fought in the Order - we all do."

Percy stayed silent as his father paused, never once looking away from his father's eyes. Although those were the words Percy had thought he wanted to hear, he had a horrible feeling that things were about to take a turn for the worse.

"But that wasn't your world," Arthur continued. "You were never in that crossfire, and it worries us that you're getting caught up in it now."

"Yeah, way to be late to the party, mate," Ron grumbled.

At his father's words, Percy felt the world around him fade away much like it had done when he had been face to face with Kelsey. He couldn't believe his ears. His family thought he was just too _simple_ and _weak_ to handle something that was the status quo for so many other people in the wizarding world. Facing old enemies, getting attacked by fugitive Death Eaters, getting harassed for your blood status... this was all much too normal for survivors of the war. However, apparently for Percy - inexperienced and bookish Percy - it was all _simply too much_.

In that moment, Percy felt his anger get the best of him.

"You must be joking right now," Percy seethed.

"Mate, you have a sick sense - "

" _Not my world?_ " Percy repeated, his voice rising to a shout. "Never in the crossfire? Is that what you think?"

"You were a bloody paper-pusher making galleons for kissing arse!" George shouted back as he shot up from his seat and slammed his hands on the table. " _You_ left _us_ , Percy, when it mattered most!"

"Oh yeah?" Percy challenged. "Well how's this for kissing arse: number five, Teardrop Crescent."

Silence followed as George looked back at him in confusion, so Percy continued, "Number eleven, Grindy Lane. Number fifty-two, Hillside Avenue. Number - "

"Percy, what is this?" Molly interrupted tiredly.

Percy didn't answer, but after a long pause, Bill spoke up, "They're... they're safehouses." His jaw was dropped slightly as he stared back at Percy, finally connecting the dots.

"Exactly," Percy confirmed, "and I can tell you the names of every single person that stayed in every single one of them."

"What are you goin' on about, Perce?" Ron asked with a hint of annoyance in his tone. Hermione was quick to elbow him and reply, "Really? Are you that stubborn?"

"I _never_ left my family," Percy continued in a low voice. He could feel the back of his eyes burning with tears but he held them back. "I only made a choice to do the _good_ thing."

Silence filled the room for a long, tense moment after Percy finished talking. Then, breaking the stillness, George scoffed, "You really expect me to believe this rubbish? Learn how to apologize, mate."

" _Apologize?_ " Percy shouted. "I've been _bloody apologizing_ for things I haven't done for _years_! Don't fucking tell me to learn how to apologize!"

"Percy, please!" Molly exclaimed. "I - wh - where is this coming from?" she asked shakily. "How... how did any of this happen?"

Percy felt guilt surge through him as he met his mother's pleading eyes. He hated upsetting her, but in that moment it was as if George's only goal was to simply rile him up. With a heavy sigh, he began to explain, "After I graduated, Dumbledore wanted someone to be his eyes and ears in the Ministry. Someone that would fit in well - I was a pretty obvious choice at the time. It was fine at first. I was just doing what I had always wanted to do, with the added task of keeping Dumbledore in the loop. You'd be surprised how easy it is to keep a secret if you're just a bit creative.

"But then... Voldemort came back," Percy trailed off. When he noticed how still everyone was, their gazes fixed on him, he continued, "Dumbledore wanted to reinstate the Order and he wanted me to continue what I was doing, but for the Order... and with a catch. I couldn't risk anyone targeting any of you if I ever got caught, either to get to me or because they thought you would know something - so I had to push you away as much as possible. Make it seem as if the Ministry was the only family I cared for."

"Pretty bloody convenient," George seethed, "guess you should start an acting career then, huh?"

" _What_ do you want from me, George?" Percy exclaimed. "After all these years, I'm finally being honest with all of you - this was my burden _alone_. I sacrificed my family and my life for people I didn't even know because I wanted to make the good choice, not the easy one! I thought of all of you every single day that passed, and you have no idea how much it hurt me to push you away!"

"Could've fooled me, you prat!" George shouted back.

Just as Percy was about to continue his shouting match with George, the room was once again silenced by the sound of the Floo roaring to life. The tension in the room was palpable as everyone fixed their sights on Audrey stumbling out of the fireplace with soot covering her dress. Without a moment's hesitation, Audrey turned to Percy. "I told you I'd back you up," she said with a shaky smile.

"How - I - wh - " Percy stumbled, clearly in a mild state of shock at Audrey's surprise entrance. However, a few moments later, it all melted away and he smiled back. For the second time that day, Audrey had somehow melted away his anger. Turning to his family again, Percy said, "If you really find it that difficult to believe _me_ , then Audrey can tell you where it all fell apart."

Intrigue etched on everyone's face, their sights once again focused on Audrey. She could feel the tension, anger, and sadness in the room as she looked around at the small part of the Weasley family that was before her. It had been somewhat of a gamble, assuming that Percy would end up telling his family about his involvement in the war. However, the combination of Percy Weasley's textbook Gryffindor pride, a very emotional few hours, and a family that was under the impression their son knew nothing of war and sacrifice... Audrey had a pretty good feeling that it would be Percy's tipping point.

It seemed her gut instinct had been right, though, and that she had arrived just in the nick of time. "Everyone that worked high-risk and secret missions for the Order had codenames. George, you so graciously nicknamed me Viper," Audrey started, briefly pausing to give her old classmate a pointed look, "My brother was Ace. And the Order's oldest Ministry spy was... Knight," she trailed off as she glanced at Percy. "One day, we received an encrypted letter signed off by Knight using a common Muggle coding strategy - really clever way to get around purebloods, actually.

"The note was a warning that Dion Shacklebolt, my grandfather, was going to be targeted, but the end of the note was the hardest to decode," Audrey continued. "When we finally got it, it was simply the word 'compromised.' Kingsley knew exactly what it meant - Percy was at risk of getting discovered should we pull out Dion. As per _Dumbledore's_ orders, if Percy was to ever get discovered, there was only one way out: a vial of deadly nightshade."

Molly gasped lightly before Audrey continued, "Evidently, Kingsley wasn't a fan of the plan, so my brother and I were given a revised extraction protocol which included Percy. What we didn't know was that Kelsey Rowle was the one that ordered the execution of my grandfather," Audrey paused for a moment, her heart racing as she recounted the events of that day. "Unfortunately, none of the disguises in the world could have stopped her from recognizing me and Keegan. She's smarter than she looks. We were stopped just short of the portkey. If it hadn't been for Percy, we would have _all_ lost our lives that day."

The room filled with tense silence as Audrey finished talking. Everyone's eyes were still intensely fixed on her, which certainly didn't help calm her racing heart. Then, all of a sudden, Molly and Arthur shot up from their seats and raced over to Percy, tightly embracing him. Percy stumbled back a bit but quickly hugged them back, a smile spreading on his face and tears welling up in his eyes. Bill was next to join in, then Ron. When George finally approached the rest of his family, they all dispersed slightly and a path cleared between Percy and George. The air between them was still with the newfound silence in the room.

Then, in one abrupt movement, George took one long stride toward his brother and tightly wrapped his arms around him. Percy didn't hesitate to hug his younger brother back, squeezing tighter as George let out a sob.

"I love you, Perce. I'm - I'm sorry," George said into his older brother's shoulder.

"I love you too, George," Percy replied. Audrey could see the tears of joy start to run down his face and she smiled back at him as his eyes met hers.

"And, um, nice to officially meet you, Audrey," Arthur spoke up as he stepped forward and extended his hand for a handshake.

Audrey chucked as she shook Arthur's hand, "Nice to meet you all, too."

Almost instantaneously, the Burrow was once again filled with conversation and the noise of a boisterous family. As Molly made her way to the stove - simply insisting on serving some tea and biscuits - and everyone busied themselves in the dining area, Percy made his way towards Audrey.

"How did you know?" he asked curiously.

"Just seemed like the most logical outcome," Audrey answered with a shrug, "and if I happened to be wrong, well, let's be honest - it was about damn time."

"Slytherins and their cleverness," Percy chided with a shake of his head and a smirk on his face.

"Gryffindors and their impulsivity," Audrey shot back jokingly.

Percy's smirk turned into a grin as he stepped towards Audrey and placed his hands on her hips to pull her closer. He leaned in close as he quietly said, "We are quite the pair."

* * *

 **This is quite a long one but writing this chapter made me so HAPPY. Kinda balances out the sadness of this story ending soon... but, I of course have plans for prequels and sequels :) See ya next chapter! -C x**


	10. Sunrises

_Chapter 10 - Sunrises_

 _12 September 1999_

* * *

"Hey - _Prophet_ owl's here!"

As George opened the window, a small tawny owl swooped into the kitchen and dropped the rolled up newspaper in the middle of the dining table, which was covered in dishes and cutlery leftover from the large breakfast. The week following the attack at the Shacklebolt Estate had been a hectic one. Percy, Audrey, and the whole Shacklebolt family had constantly been in and out of the Wizengamot giving testimonies and journalists were all over the place. However, Kingsley was doing everything in his power to get the trial expedited and over with as soon as possible.

In the midst of testimonies, however, many Order secrets had begun to come out to the public - namely, Percy's involvement. It was unavoidable once Percy was sitting in the Wizengamot and being asked whether he had had any previous encounters with the accused, and the onslaught of questions that had followed had been a nightmare. Fortunately, though, Audrey had been by his side the whole time, just like when he had told his family.

Still, when Percy had received the letter from Rita Skeeter requesting an interview, he had been reluctant. That is, until Audrey made a good point: he could control his story, or he could let the old bag gab away however she wanted. Now, as the Burrow was filled with silence, the headline ominously stared back at him.

 _FORMER ORDER SPY SPILLS ALL: DRAMA, INTRIGUE, AND HEARTACHE_

"Well, she certainly embellished," Percy declared, breaking the silence.

"Could be worse," Audrey said optimistically. She nodded towards the newspaper and added, "Do the honours, Perce."

Everyone in the small kitchen - Molly, Arthur, George, Ron, and Hermione - intently stared at Percy, then back at the newspaper in anticipation. With a deep breath, Percy reached forward and unrolled the paper.

" _'Once upon a time, the name Percy Weasley would have meant less than nothing to all households of the wizarding world - '_ wow, really, that's how she's going to start?" Percy began to read.

"Keep goin', you need to be brought down a couple pegs," George urged jokingly.

With a sigh, Percy continued, " _' - but today I have the honour of introducing you to the Order of the Phoenix's bravest hero. Here follow the tales of a man that has given up more than most for the sake of doing the good thing for all magical kind.'_ And then it just goes on about some missions I did."

"Perce," Ron started with a serious tone, "for twenty-three years, you have been nothing but a pompous prat, but now - _now_ \- you act modest. _What_ bloody missions?"

"Well the first one she talks about is the one where I stopped that last decree Umbridge wanted to get passed, back when she was Headmistress," Percy explained. "It was the one allowing physical punishment of students but Fudge never got it because, uh, I may have replaced it with a rather embarrassing letter bearing Umbridge's forged signature."

"Perfect, prudish Percival Weasley, did you just confess to damaging Ministry property _and_ forging an official's signature?" George exclaimed sarcastically.

"Settle down, would you?" Percy grumbled. "Then it goes on about how I smuggled a muggle-born and his family out of the Ministry."

"The McConnells," Audrey intervened. "Keegan and I received them on the other end of the portkey."

"Wait - really?" Percy asked as he turned to look at Audrey in shock. "Blimey, we had a lot of close calls," he added observantly.

"You mean Gregor McConnell?" Arthur asked. "He... he pushed me out of the way of a blast when we were at Hogwarts."

Audrey glanced at Percy and smiled when she saw the look on his face. She could tell he was trying to down-play the article, but he seemed proud. He had a glint in his eye that she hadn't seen before. When he glanced her way, he didn't hesitate to return her smile.

"The, uh, last part actually talks about the mission that Audrey and her brother did, and how she saved my bloody neck," Percy continued, looking back down at the newspaper in his hands, a wide grin still on his face. "And then it ends with, _'While the war may be over, the list of heroes we must thank for their sacrifices continues to grow. Today, you can add Percy Weasley to that list: a perfect example of selflessness and bravery. Tune in - '_ Oh, bloody hell."

"What's wrong?" Audrey asked curiously. She leaned in to get a better look at the article and rolled her eyes as she got a glimpse of the words.

Percy rolled his eyes and continued, " _'Tune in next week for the hot gossip on his hero belle, Audrey Shacklebolt. There is more to this pureblood princess and her hero spy than meets the eye.'_ "

"Ugh, she even bloody rhymed it," Ron said with disgust, "Classic Rita Skeeter, ladies and gentlemen."

"Well, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it," Audrey declared tiredly. "For now, enjoy being a hero, Percy. You earned it."

"Skeeter or not," Molly started, leaning across the table to grab the newspaper from Percy, "this is getting framed and put in the living room."

"Nestled right alongside all of Percy's other awards," George teased as Molly promptly left the kitchen with Arthur following closely behind. "I call it 'The Shrine of Humongous Bighead.'"

As everyone else began to disperse and leave the kitchen, Percy leaned in towards Audrey, a mild look of annoyance on his face, and explained, "He means Head Boy."

"Oh, I know," Audrey replied with a smirk, "Him and Fred pretended like they didn't know who I was talking about if I didn't use that nickname for all of our fifth year. So - "

"So you're familiar," Percy interrupted with a sigh. Although he sounded annoyed, Audrey could see a small smile cracking his glare.

Leaning in closer, Audrey whispered, "You know, if you still have that badge, I think it would still look rather good on you."

"You want to me to wear my Hogwarts uniform?" Percy asked in confusion.

"I meant _just_ the badge."

"I like where your head's at."

* * *

 _31 December 1999_

* * *

Percy cleaned his glasses for possibly the tenth time in the last half hour, then gently perched them on his face again as he looked in the mirror in his old childhood bedroom. He had managed to tame his curly red hair for the night, and had put on his best set of dress robes. Deciding that this would be his final inspection, Percy gave himself a satisfied nod before opening the door to enter the chaos that was filling the rest of the Burrow.

Almost instantly, Percy was surrounded by the shouting and noise of his family attempting to get ready for the big New Year's Eve party that the Shacklebolts were hosting. He was nervous for the event, although not because it meant he would be facing Audrey's whole family. After Kelsey had been taken care of and things had settled down, Percy had actually regularly kept in touch with Audrey's parents. By all accounts, it seemed that he had made a good impression on them, and he couldn't be any happier.

When Percy's eyes found Ginny and George in the living room playing Exploding Snap, however, his happiness did fall a few steps.

"Hey! You two!" he exclaimed, storming towards his siblings. "You're not even dressed!"

"Ah yes, thank you, Captain Obvious," George bit back with a smirk. "Don't get your knickers in a twist - we'll go change now."

"This was a task for an hour ago!" Percy shouted as George and Ginny rolled their eyes at him and trudged their way upstairs.

Looking around rather frantically, Percy called out, "Ron! Harry!"

"I've got them!" Hermione shouted back. Deciding that she was probably the only other responsible person in the whole house, Percy considered that handled and went into the kitchen to join his older brothers.

Bill and Fleur stood by the window, seemingly calm in the midst of the loud house. Fleur was now sporting a visible baby bump, which had resulted in Molly being even more overbearing than usual; however, for the first time ever, Fleur seemed to be enjoying the attention her mother-in-law was giving her. Sitting at the dining table, Charlie was deep in conversation with his new girlfriend, a witch that he worked with in Romania by the name of Raluca. Admittedly, Charlie _not_ showing up alone for the first Christmas ever had been the highlight of everyone's holidays.

For now, anyways.

Feeling a strong hand on his shoulder, Percy turned his head to see Arthur standing beside him. "How're you feeling, Perce?" his father asked with a grin.

"Nervous - definitely nervous," Percy replied, "but excited."

"That's a good sign," Arthur said reassuringly.

Percy nodded as his father left to extract Molly from Fleur's side. Looking down at his watch, the panic set in again. "People! We're already running late!" Percy shouted.

"Oi, relax," George grumbled as he entered the kitchen, fully dressed, "Haven't seen you this worked up since you graduated."

Percy only rolled his eyes at George, but he felt the smile spreading across his face as the rest of his family filled the small kitchen of the Burrow. The last time he remembered his whole family, Harry and Hermione included, crowded together in the Burrow like this had been Fred's funeral. Now, for the first time in a while, it was for a happy reason.

"All right, be clear when you're in the Floo: Shacklebolt Estate, Hornsea."

* * *

Audrey instinctively turned her head as she heard the roar of the Floo, considerably softer when covered up by the loud music playing in the main hall. She excused herself from her father's side as she made her way out of the hall and started to head towards the study.

She quickly stopped by her old bedroom, giving herself one final look-over in the mirror. She had left her hair down, wavy and swaying with every movement. Her gown was a deep burgundy colour and form-fitting. The sleeves were simple lace of the same colour and the dress left her back entirely bare all the way down to her waist. Except for the healed scar running diagonally across her back, she looked exactly how she had looked that night seven months ago.

The night her and Percy had first kissed.

With a satisfied nod, Audrey made her way to the study once more. As soon as she entered, she found the room full with the whole Weasley family. Audrey met Percy's eyes and he started heading towards her, the room growing quiet. She could see the surprise on his face as he recognized the dress. The grin he was sporting was contagious.

"This is... you look beautiful," Percy finally said.

"Thank you," Audrey replied with a proud smile, "you're looking rather dapper yourself."

"People are in the room!" George piped in as he popped up behind Percy and gave his older brother a much too strong pat on the back.

Percy rolled his eyes at George's outburst but Audrey only laughed and took hold of Percy's hand. "Well in that case, follow me," she declared.

With Percy by her side, Audrey led everyone back to the main hall, the sounds of music and conversation getting louder with each step. Everyone was visibly filled with awe as they entered the hall. The ceiling was covered in garlands of silver flowers. Large wreaths hung on the wall and beautiful glass vases of poinsettias were at the centre of each table. A Charmed mistletoe was zooming around the room, coming to an abrupt stop over its next pair of victims: Keegan and Daphne. Dramatic as always, Keegan dipped her down as if dancing before kissing her, earning a loud chorus of 'whoop's from his co-workers.

"Welcome to the Shacklebolts' New Year's Eve party!" Audrey introduced as she turned to face the rest of the Weasley family. "Make yourself at home."

One by one, everyone began to disperse as they recognized old friends or simply felt like joining in on the dancing. Soon enough, only Percy and Audrey were left standing together.

"This is amazing," Percy said as he looked around the room.

"You don't want to know how stressful it was to be around my mum this last month," Audrey replied, "but it looks like it paid off."

"Ah, just who I was looking for!"

Audrey and Percy turned around at the sound of Lucinda's voice. Of course, Audrey should have known that her grandmother wouldn't be one to wait around for Audrey to come to her - rather, Lucinda was a fan of taking matters into her own hands.

"Well, Audrey, please introduce us," the older woman said pointedly.

"Percy, meet my grandmother, Lucinda. Gran, this is Percy, my boyfriend," Audrey introduced with a smile.

"Pleased to _finally_ meet you dear," Lucinda said as she shook Percy's hand. "Kris speaks of you _very_ highly."

"I am truly happy to hear that," Percy replied politely.

"So polite," Lucinda noted as she looked Audrey's way, as if that would mean Percy was out of earshot. Taking a step back and looking at the couple with a proud smile, she added, "Now go enjoy yourselves!"

Hooking her arm with Percy's, Audrey chuckled at her grandmother and led him into the party. With a wave of her wand, two glasses of champagne floated towards her and Percy and they each took a glass as they continued walking. "Gran can be a lot, but she means well," Audrey said with a shrug.

"If you think that's a lot, wait 'til you meet Muriel," Percy replied with a shake of his head. "Besides, I kind of like that my biggest worry is being bombarded by your grandmother."

"Well, when you put it that way, we've definitely fried bigger fish," Audrey admitted. It really was nice, for the first time ever, to not feel like she had to watch her back at every turn.

As the couple made their way around the large room, they stopped a few times to talk to several people they both recognized from work. It felt so natural to be by Percy's side even for the simplest conversations, and Audrey found herself enjoying introducing him to the rest of her family. Soon enough, Audrey spotted Sabina and made her way over to her best friend with Percy in tow.

"Sab! I'm so glad you're here," Audrey said as she went to hug her friend.

"Aye, glad to be here. Nice to see you again, too, Percy," she greeted, looking around rather frantically.

"Likewise," Percy replied slowly. "You all right?"

Sabina sighed heavily and met Audrey's eyes. "I've got a situation," she declared. "Your dad told my dad to feel free to _bring the team_."

Audrey frowned in confusion at her friend. Every year her parents had held this party, her father had always extended an invitation to the Quidditch team that Sab's father coached, Puddlemere United. "Like he always does," Audrey said slowly.

"Merlin's crotchless thong, I need to be more hammered," Sabina muttered, quickly downing her champagne right after and summoning another glass.

"Oh, look - I didn't know Oliver would be here," Percy said as he spotted his friend just entering the hall. He moved to wave him over but Sabina quickly smacked his arm down.

"Are you _mad_?" she hissed. Shaking her head, she added, " _Jebemti_ , I need to get out of here."

Without another word, Sabina disappeared into the crowd of the party. "Well, it's never good when she starts swearing in Slovenian," Audrey declared as she looked up at Percy.

"What was that all about?" he asked curiously.

"I have a feeling we'll find out eventually," Audrey replied as she watched Sabina disappear into the crowd. "Still wanna go say hi to Oliver?" she asked.

"Actually... I was thinking we could get some fresh air," Percy said, feeling a surge of courage run through him.

"I'd like that," Audrey replied with a smile.

The couple made their way towards the double doors leading out onto a large balcony that overlooked the sea. The area was sealed with Heating Charms to keep out the cold winter breeze, but the view was still breathtaking. A starry sky hung over the strong sea waves rolling onto the beach. Audrey set her champagne glass down on the stone ledge of the balcony as she looked out at the seaside, a small smile of contentment on her face. She felt calm and happy. These were the moments she wished would never end.

"Remember the last time we were alone on a balcony together?" Audrey asked, the smile on her face widening as she continued looking out at the view.

"That's actually exactly what I was thinking about."

Turning to look at Percy, Audrey frowned in confusion when she didn't immediately see him next to her. When she turned around and her eyes finally landed on him, her jaw dropped slightly and her eyes widened in surprise. She felt her breath hitch as she looked down at Percy, down on one knee in front of her with an open ring box in his hand and an incredibly wide grin on his face.

"Audrey Shacklebolt, I want to stargaze with you for the rest of my life, wherever we are," Percy started. "Will you marry me?"

"Will I - ? Yes! Yes!" Audrey replied excitedly, smiling uncontrollably.

Percy quickly got up and put the engagement ring on Audrey's finger then, without a moment's hesitation, wrapped his arm around her waist to bring her close and kiss her. Audrey quickly kissed him back, hands grabbing at his dress robes to pull him even closer. This was a moment that would last forever.

* * *

 _1 January 2000_

* * *

"Look at that - made it to sunrise."

Audrey blinked rapidly in the hopes that it would make her feel more awake as she took in the first sign of light between the clouds. After the excitement of their engagement and the thrill of the countdown, Audrey and Percy had decided to stay up to see the first sunrise of the year. They had situated themselves on a bench in the gardens, with plenty of blankets, coffee, hot chocolate, and some strong Heating Charms. Overall, Percy was _much_ better at dealing with sleep deprivation than she was.

"First sunrise of the year," Audrey said with a smile. "First sunrise as your fiancée."

With his arm around her waist, Percy gave her a light squeeze and a kiss on the cheek. "I like the sound of that," he said.

"You know what else sounds nice?" Audrey started as she looked over at Percy. "Audrey Weasley sounds pretty nice."

Percy returned Audrey's wide smile. "It sounds perfect," he said quietly.

* * *

 **And with this... I bring you the end of By Moonlight and Sunrises :) Writing this story was super fun, and I can't get enough of these two, so here's some other projects you can look forward to:**

 **\- The Tales of Viper and Ace: stories of Audrey and Keegan's Order missions, including their rescue of Percy**

 **\- Something New: the hectic week before Percy and Audrey's wedding**

 **\- Forbidden Fruit: an explanation for Sabina's frantic behaviour ;)**

 **Until next time, wonderful readers! -C x**


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